Repsol moves investors to calm them down after falling refining margins have hit profits

The CEO of Spanish oil firm Repsol confirmed on Thursday the group's forecast for payouts to shareholders despite a nearly halving of third-quarter profits linked to a decline in oil refining profit margins.

Repsol, along with other large companies such as TotalEnergies of France and BP have seen their refining margins decline significantly due to a weaker global economy and the addition of new refineries.

In a press release, CEO Josu Imaz stated that "our strategic priorities will remain unchanged as we move forward". He also said that "between 25 to 35% of the cash flow generated by our operations" would be distributed to shareholders.

Separately the company announced that it would increase the interim dividend paid in January by 19%.

Repsol shares were up 1.5% at the opening of trading on the IBEX 35 blue-chip index. The index was down by 0.3%.

It said that the third-quarter adjusted net income fell by around 50%, to 558 millions euros ($605.7m), down from 1.1bn euros a year ago and slightly below an average company forecast of 567m euros.

The net profit dropped 88% to 166 millions euros.

The margins for refining declined by more than 70% compared to the same period last year.

(source: Reuters)