Russian gas giant Gazprom posted a 50 percent drop in its second-quarter net profit mainly due to lower prices and demand in Europe, hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gazprom reported a profit of 149.2 billion Russian roubles ($2 billion) in the April- June period, compared to 300.5 billion roubles last year.
However, Gazprom still managed to post a profit in the second quarter following a net loss of 116.2 billion Russian roubles in the January-March period.
Second-quarter revenue also dropped to 1.16 trillion roubles from 1.78 trillion roubles in the same period last year.
In the first-half period, Gazprom reported a profit of 32.9 billion roubles, compared to 836.4 billion roubles in 2019.
Net gas sales in the six months dropped 35 percent to 1.38 trillion roubles on lower volumes to Europe.
Gas sales to Europe and Turkey, which account for most of Gazprom’s profits, fell by 47 percent to 756.3 billion roubles.
Volumes-wise, the sales dropped 17 percent to 98.2 bcm in the January-June period from 117.9 bcm recorded last year.