Russian Rosneft's Profit Tripled

Russia's state oil giant Rosneft announced its net profit nearly tripled to $6.87bn in the first half of 2008 compared to the same period of the previous year, the Russian oil company indicated in a statement today.

Revenue rose nearly twofold to $37.5bn, while EBITDA climbed 2.2 times to $11.75bn. Operating profit increased 2.8 times to $9.65bn.

Rosneft's net profit surged 2.5 times to $4.3bn in the second quarter of 2008, while revenue went up nearly twofold to $21.13bn.

At the same time, the stepping up of financial results was hindered by higher taxes (total tax payment reached $20.7bn in H1 2008 against $12bn in H1 2007), a 13-32-percent increase in transportation tariffs and the ruble's appreciation against the dollar.