TOT TOTAL SE

By Sarah McFarlane

French energy giant Total S.A. (FP.FR) on Thursday posted a fall in profits for the latest quarter, after natural gas prices plunged in Europe and Asia.

Lower gas prices were offset to a degree by overall hydrocarbon production growth and higher oil prices.

Total's production beat expectations, rising 9% to 2.96 million barrels a day following the startup of some major projects including in Angola and the North Sea.

Total's net profit fell to $2.76 billion from $3.72 billion in the second-quarter. Adjusted net income fell 19% to $2.89 billion, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted net income of $2.94 billion.

"Exploration and production benefited from higher Brent with a 15% increase in operating cash flow before working capital changes," Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said.

Brent oil prices averaged $69 a barrel for the second-quarter, compared with $63 a barrel the previous quarter, but natural gas prices were down 36% in Europe and 26% in Asia.

Total noted strong growth in its liquefied natural gas business, where sales more than doubled compared to the same quarter a year ago thanks to the startup of projects in Russia, Australia and the U.S., along with the portfolio of LNG contracts acquired from Engie S.A. (ENGI.FR) last year.

The company noted the continued growth of the business with the agreement with Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s (APC) assets in Africa, along with a contract signed with Chinese company Guanghui Energy Co. Ltd. (600256.SH) and the takeover of Toshiba Corp.'s (6502.TO) LNG portfolio.

Total expects production growth to exceed 9% this year but warned of an uncertain outlook for oil and gas demand growth due to the outlook for the global economy. The company said it plans to sell off around $5 billion in assets over the next year, mostly from its upstream exploration-and-production portfolio.

Citi analyst Alastair Syme said the divestments should help Total shore up its cashflow and plug the shortfall from weaker refining and gas markets.

--Nathan Allen contributed to this article.

Write to Sarah McFarlane at sarah.mcfarlane@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 25, 2019 04:36 ET (08:36 GMT)

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