France’s TotalEnergies said on Thursday its second-quarter earnings jumped due to higher oil and gas prices, while the energy giant’s LNG sales also improved when compared to the same period last year.
Adjusted net income rose almost three times to $9.8 billion from $3.4 billion last year, while it also increased when compared to the previous quarter of $9 billion.
Net income surged year-on-year to $5.69 billion from $2.20 billion, as well as from $4.9 billion in the prior quarter.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued to impact energy markets in the second quarter, with oil prices averaging more than $110/bbl in the quarter, refining margins reaching record-high levels, and natural gas prices holding above oil parity in Europe and Asia,” chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said.
He said the company’s cash flow was $13.2 billion ($12.4 billion excluding Russia) and free cash flow was $4.5 billion, after buying back $2 billion of shares in the second quarter.
“Supported by these results, the board of directors approved the distribution of the 2022 second interim dividend in the amount of €0.69/share, up 5 percent year-on-year, and authorized the company to continue share buybacks of up to $2 billion in the third quarter,” Pouyanne said.
LNG sales up on high European demand
LNG sales increased 11 percent to 11.7 million tonnes in the second quarter when compared to the same period last year. Sales dropped from 13.3 million tonnes in the prior quarter.
TotalEnergies said LNG sales rose year-on-year due to the increase in spot LNG purchases to maximize the use of the company’s regasification capacity in Europe.
In the first half of this year, LNG sales rose 22 percent to 24.9 million tonnes, with 60 percent in Europe, according to TotalEnergies.
As previously reported, the company’s average price for equity LNG sales in the second quarter reache $13.96/MMBtu, logging a rise when compared to the previous three-month period but also year-on-year.
The price rose about $0.36/MMBtu compared with the previous quarter, while it more than doubled when compared to the same period in 2021.
The company’s integrated gas, renewables and power segment reported adjusted net operating income of $2.55 billion, nearly triple year-on-year due to higher LNG prices.