Gazprom's Q1 net profit reaches $8.4 billion

Gazprom, a Russian energy company, reported that its first-quarter net profit rose around 1% from the same period in the previous year. Sales and the rouble's exchange rate were also higher.

Gazprom reported that the strengthening of the Russian rouble resulted in a profit thanks to the revaluation its foreign currency debt.

Analysts attribute the rouble's rise of more than 40% this year against the dollar to easing tensions with the U.S. government since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, and the tight monetary policies of the Russian central banks, which have reduced demand for foreign currencies.

Interfax, the news agency, had compiled a consensus of analysts for net earnings at 487 billion Russian roubles.

Gazprom said that its revenue increased from 2.78 trillion to 2.81 trillion in the period January-March 2024.

Since February 2022 when Russia sent thousands into Ukraine, the state-owned Gazprom has seen its natural gas supplies to Europe plummet. In September that same year, Nord Stream pipelines from Germany to Germany were blown out.

Earlier this week, a Swiss court ruled that Nord Stream 2 (part of Gazprom) had reached a debt-restructuring agreement with its creditors. Gazprom reported in its report the agreement was already in force because the ruling had not been appealed.

Gazprom reported last month a net gain on its 2024 results, following a loss in 2023 of nearly $7 billion. This was its first loss since 1999 due to the collapse of gas exports into Europe.

Gazprom, despite being profitable and despite its gas sales plummeting in Europe, still faces challenges as a result of the halting of gas supplies via Ukraine on January 1, after a transit agreement with Kyiv expired. $1 = 78.5000 Russian roubles (Reporting and editing by Tomaszjanowski and Hugh Lawson; Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Oksana Kobieva)

(source: Reuters)