Ecopetrol Net Profit Falls Sharply in Second Quarter
Net profit at Colombia's state-run oil company Ecopetrol tumbled nearly 48 percent in the second quarter, the company said on Tuesday, due to a fall in sales and output.
Net profit attributable to shareholders was 787 billion pesos ($270.6 million) between April and June, compared with 1.5 trillion pesos during the same period of 2015.
Gross income was down 27 percent to 6.75 trillion pesos in the second quarter due to the effects from a 28 percent fall in crude prices as well as lower production, the company said in a statement.
Sales volume fell 7 percent to 946.9 billion pesos from the 1.02 trillion pesos recorded in the same quarter last year, due to a decrease in crude available for export.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization dropped 18.1 percent to 4.52 trillion pesos.
Ecopetrol is Colombia's largest company and produces a majority of the country's oil. It also operates in Brazil, Peru and the United States.
The company, which has sold several major non-oil related assets in a bid to refocus its operations, recently took full control of the Rubiales and Cusiana fields, which it says will increase output by 60,000 barrels per day.
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb)
