The net profit of Colombian state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol SA fell 77% in the second quarter of the year from the same period a year earlier as a result of falling oil prices, despite higher production of crude oil and gas.
Ecopetrol booked a profit of 762 billion Colombian pesos ($373.5 million), down from COP3.35 trillion reported in the same period a year-earlier, the company said late on Friday.
The profit per share was COP18.83 during the second quarter.
In the first half of the year, its profit fell 58% to COP2.37 trillion compared with the same period a year ago.
The profit per share was COP58.59 in the first half of the year.
The second-quarter profit was much lower than the COP1.22 trillion on average expected by four analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
Ecopetrol's Chief Executive Javier Gutierrez said the accumulated results for 2009 were the result of lower prices of crude and gas.
Ecopetrol's total sales revenue in the second quarter of the year fell 29% to COP6.68 trillion from COP9.42 trillion in the same period a year ago.
In the first half of the year, Ecopetrol sold COP11.8 trillion worth of products, down 29% from the COP16.6 trillion sold in the same period a year ago.
Ecopetrol produced 472,900 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the first half of the year, up from 441,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the same period in 2008.
In the second quarter, the company produced 488,500 barrels of oil equivalent, up 10% from the same period a year ago.
During the second quarter, Ecopetrol invested COP4.63 trillion to expand existing operations and to take over other companies.
So far this year, Ecopetrol has acquired 50% of Peru's Petrotech Peruana SA for $450 million, a 51% stake in a Cartagena refinery from Swiss commodity company Glencore International AG for $549 million and the Colombian unit of France's Etablissements Maurel et Prom (5107.FR) for $748 million. The company also bought a stake in an oil pipeline from Enbridge Inc. (ENB) for $418 million.
The company plans to invest about $7 billion this year as part of a $60 billion program over the years 2008-2015.
The company recently sold $1.5 billion in international bonds and secured COP2.2 trillion in a syndicated loan from local banks to finance its expansion plan. Ecopetrol will also use part of its cashflow.
The Colombian government owns 89.9% of Ecopetrol.
Ecopetrol's shares rose 0.4% to COP2,775 on Friday, while the benchmark IGBC stock index rose 0.6%. (Dow Jones)
