Lukoil Q1 Profit Dives 60 pct

Lukoil, Russia's second largest oil producer, reported a worse-than-expected 60 percent drop in first-quarter net profit to $690 million, dragged down by weak oil prices, it said on Wednesday.

A Reuters poll of analysts had expected Lukoil to post a net profit of $1.06 billion for the first three months of the year.

Lukoil said revenue was $23.2 billion, down by 35 percent from the same period last year, while earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by almost a third to $2.8 billion.

Lukoil added that it had signed an agreement with China's Sinopec for the sale of its 50 percent stake in Caspian Investment Resources Ltd for $1.067 billion.

Reporting by Olesya Astakhova