News / Business

Low oil prices send Repsol deep into red

Thursday, 25 February 2016 11:39 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 25 February 2016 11:38 AM ]

Spain's Repsol said on Thursday that it had posted a net loss of €2.06 billion ($2.26 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Spain's key energy company Repsol said on Thursday that it had posted a net loss of €2.06 billion ($2.26 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2015 due primarily to a write-down of assets related to the slump in oil prices.

The company’s loss last year stood at only €34 million.

Over the full-year, Repsol said it made a net loss of €1. 23 billion after taking €2.96 billion in one-off charges.

Without those charges, net profit for the year rose 9 percent at €1.86 billion -- a nine-percent rise from 2014.

The past few months have been trying for companies and countries which produce oil and other commodities, the prices of which have slumped as demand has slowed in China -- the motor of global growth in recent years -- casting a cloud over the global economic recovery, AFP reported.

Repsol, which acquired Canada's energy firm Talisman last year, added that without the provision, the group would have made a net profit of €1.86 billion last year.

"This result specifically measures the performance of the business units and demonstrates the company's strength and resilience in the face of adverse situations such as the current low oil and gas prices," it said in a statement, as reported by AFP.

Shares in the oil giant -- which had already warned the markets of its 2015 loss last month -- rose 3.15 percent to €8.85 mid-morning Thursday.

Separately, the group announced it had agreed to sell its offshore wind power business in Britain to China's SDIC Power for €238 million.

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