Novatek’s profit boosted by Yamal LNG stake sale

Novatek of Russia on Wednesday informed its profit for the second quarter and the first half of 2016 jumped 9.6 percent and 122 percent, respectively, compared to the same period a year ago.

The profit for the second quarter reached RR 45.9 billion (approx. US$695 million) compared to RR 41.9 billion ($634 million), the report shows.

Novatek’s first half profit was boosted by the sale of a 9.9 percent equity stake in Yamal LNG to the Silk Road Fund of China pushing it up to RR 161.8 billion ($2.4 billion).

Excluding the transaction, Novatek’s profit for the first half this year reached RR 104.1 billion ($1.5 billion) representing a 42.7 percent increase as compared to the first half 2015.

The company’s revenue for the second quarter and the first half increased by 13.5 percent and 18 percent reaching RR 127.3 billion ($1.9 billion) and RR 266.7 ($4 billion) respectively, compared to the corresponding periods of 2015.

Novatek added that the profit dynamics have been positively impacted by foreign exchange effect and the change in fair value of non-commodity financial instruments.

1 Russian ruble = 0.015119 U.S. dollars