Analysts on YUKOS's operational results for Q1

YUKOS's operational results for the first quarter are neither a negative nor a positive factor for its securities, analysts believe. The company has announced its results for the first quarter 2004 today. Its data is average for Russian companies. The company could have benefited more from the current macroeconomic situation by boosting its oil production. But as the company decreased its number of wells drilled in the period from January through March it might benefit from higher profitability and lower expenditures.

YUKOS might achieve its targets for 2004, analysts believe. Russian oil companies are seen to decrease their oil production due to the proposed changes in taxation. Therefore, YUKOS should show a more substantial increase in the first nine months of 2004 than 11.4 percent, analysts say. On the other hand, YUKOS lacks transportation capacity and this factor hampers a growth in oil production, experts believe. YUKOS's global peers show a 4-percent yearly increase in oil production. In Russia this increase averages 10 percent per year.