Drop in profits: from weak oil says Vagit Alekperov
Lukoil sees profits plummeting by 45%
Lukoil, Russia's second biggest oil producer, expects net profit to fall this year by 34% to 45% because of weaker oil prices, the company's chief executive, Vagit Alekperov, told state television channel Vesti.
"The company's profit has decreased, but it stabilised and we hope to close the year with net profit at around $5 billion to $6 billion," said Alekperov.
In 2008, Lukoil's net profit edged down by 4% to $9.1 billion, while for January-September 2009 its earnings fell to $5.3 billion from $10.8 billion in the same period last year.
Earlier this month, Russia's largest private oil company, 20% owned by US oil major ConocoPhillips , cut its long-term output targets to match weaker European demand and to accumulate more cash to pay higher dividends.