Total Net Income Drops

Total of France reported its fourth quarter and full year 2013 results.

Commenting on the results, Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie said: “The Group reported 2013 adjusted net income of 14.3 billion dollars, a slight decrease from the previous year. Against a backdrop of growing demand, the upstream environment remained stable with a Brent price close 110 $/b. In the downstream, the significant deterioration of European refining margins was partially offset by a more favorable environment for petrochemicals.

“The year 2013 marks an important step for the Group. In the Upstream, launching major projects, in key regions like Africa, Canada and Russia, as well as entering into promising new assets, notably in Brazil, allows us to confirm our objectives and strengthens the outlook for the Group beyond 2017. In the Downstream, the resilient results are evidence of the successful implementation of our ongoing restructuring plans.

“As announced, the intensive investment phase that we embarked on to transform our production profile by 2017 reached a peak of 28 billion dollars in 2013.

“Backed by a strong balance sheet and a commitment to a policy to provide competitive returns to our shareholders, the Board of Directors decided to propose a dividend increase for 2013 at the Annual Shareholders Meeting.

“Having demonstrated strong operational progress in every segment, we are confident in the ability of our teams to develop value-creating projects and to prevail in the necessary battle against rising costs. It is with this ambition that we move forward to implement our model for sustainable growth and reaffirm our priority for safety and acceptability in our operations.”