BG earnings jump 27pc
Gas and oil firm BG Group said profits jumped 27 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter on higher commodity prices and as production returned to growth after being hit by North African unrest.
BG, which is undertaking major projects to develop oil and gas reserves in Brazil and Australia, posted underlying earnings of (£685.39M) in the three months to the end of June beating a forecast of $1.07bn from a company-supplied poll of 21 analysts.
The company, which in May cut its output growth forecast for 2011, said gas and oil production rose three per cent in the quarter compared with the same quarter last year.
The higher production reflected a return to normality in Egypt and Tunisia output after civil unrest affected it in the first three months of the year, as well as the re-opening of some North Sea fields after maintenance and a ramp-up in production in Brazil and the US.
BG said it expected production growth to be modest in 2011, repeating guidance issued in May.