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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Talisman Reports net profit jumped to C$603 million ($584.3 million), or 59 Canadian cents a share, from C$63 million,

Talisman said net profit jumped to C$603 million ($584.3 million), or 59 Canadian cents a share, from C$63 million, or 6 Canadian cents a share, a year ago, as last year's profit was impacted by mark-to-market losses on derivatives.

Excluding items, the company earned C$137 million from continuing operations, or 13 Canadian cents a share.

Analysts on average had forecast profit of 11.3 Canadian cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company, which has been concentrating its efforts on shale gas prospects in Canada and the United States, said total revenue rose 5 percent to C$1.59 billion.

Cash flow, a glimpse into an oil company's ability to pay for drilling and other projects, fell 9 percent to C$812 million, or 80 Canadian cents a share, from C$897 million, or 88 Canadian cents a share, a year ago.

Talisman, which also operates in the North Sea and southeast Asia, production averaged 411,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d), down from 424,000 boe/d in the year-ago quarter as a result of non-core asset sales.

The company said underlying production from continuing operations averaged 387,000 boe/d, up 2 percent over last year.

Talisman shares closed at C$17.09 Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. ($1=1.032 Canadian Dollar) (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)