Repsol exceeds expectations in the second quarter despite a blackout.

Repsol, a Spanish energy company, announced on Thursday that its adjusted second-quarter profit exceeded expectations despite being hit by a massive power outage in April as well as other minor issues with the supply of electricity.

The blackout of April 28, which caused chaos on the roads and left thousands of people stranded in trains and elevators in Iberian Peninsula, also affected power supplies to Repsol's refineries and chemical plants.

On April 22 and 16, 2016, some of its facilities were also affected by external power supply problems.

The utilisation ratios in the third quarter were significantly lower than the previous three months, as it takes one to two weeks after such events for these plants to become fully operational.

In a press release, Chief Executive Josu Imaz stated that "all businesses have improved their quarterly and half-yearly results except for Industrial which was affected by the general blackout in Spain on April 28."

The company stated that it is already considering possible legal action after the responsibilities for the outage have been officially determined.

The Spanish antitrust and energy regulator is conducting an investigation into the blackout, but has not said when its findings will be released.

Repsol reported a profit adjusted for the quarter of 702 millions euros. This compares to 859 million euro a year ago and an average forecast provided by the company of 500 million euros.

The net profit dropped to 237 millions euros, down from 657million euros the year before.

The Spanish company also announced that it will sell its 40% stake in U.S. developer of renewable energy Hecate.

(source: Reuters)