MADRID: Spain's energy giant Repsol swung back to profit last year as oil prices recovered at the end of 2016.
The group said Thursday it had made a net profit of 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in 2016, above the expectations of analysts surveyed by Factset who were banking on 1.56 billion euros.
The results are in marked contrast from 2015, when it registered a loss of 1.2 billion euros due to a plunge in crude prices.
"The company reported its highest net income in four years in 2016, reflecting the strength and flexibility of its business units and the success of the action plan put in place in response to falling crude oil and gas prices," it said in a statement.
The result also benefitted in terms of provisions from the comparison with 2015, when it was forced to set aside large funds to ward off the impact of dwindling energy prices.
Repsol in October 2015 unveiled an ambitious cost-cutting programme which involves slashing billions from capital spending by 2020 and cutting 1,500 jobs out of 25,000 worldwide by 2018.
The group said it had managed to save "more than 900 million euros" in 2016.
Its upstream unit, which includes exploration and production, made a net profit of 52 million euros in 2016 when it had run at a loss the previous year.
This improvement was due to better crude and gas prices in the fourth quarter, it said.
And it also increased its oil and gas production by 23 percent thanks to good output in Peru, Venezuela and Brazil.
But its downstream unit -- which includes refining -- suffered a 12 percent drop in profits to 1.88 billion euros, due to a drop in margins.
World oil prices have risen by over 70 percent over the last 12 months to around $55 per barrel.
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