LUKoil head reports expected net profit

The expected volume of LUKoil's net profit will be no lower in the third and fourth quarters of 2002 as compared to the second quarter of this year, LUKoil President Vaghit Alekperov announced in an interview today. He noted that LUKoil had a slight fall in its net profit in the first half of 2002 as compared to the corresponding period last year. At the same time, Alekperov stressed that the reduction in the net profit, which had been more significant in the first quarter of 2002, slowed down in the second quarter. The LUKoil president explained that this reduction in the net profit was due to a fall in world oil prices in the second quarter of 2001 and in the first three months of 2002. He announced that investors and analysts had positively estimated the financial results of LUKoil in the first half of 2002 and this immediately resulted in a rise in prices for LUKoil shares.

LUKoil's net profit, calculated by GAAP standards, reduced from $753m in the second quarter of 2001 to $597m in the second quarter of 2002. The net profit was at $840m in the first six months of 2002 against $1.433bn in the first half of 2001. The company's sales revenues, including excises and export duties, reached $3.794bn in the second quarter of 2002 and $6.641bn in the first half of this year.

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