Santos Ltd, Australia's second-largest independent gas producer, on Thursday reported a 60% plunge in annual underlying profit as energy markets were battered because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company's underlying net profit, which excludes one-time charges, fell to $287 million for the year ended Dec. 31, from $719 million a year earlier.
Reduced industrial activity due to the pandemic led to sluggish demand and weaker commodity prices for most of 2020, with Santos' average realised price of LNG slumping more than a third.
Easing lockdown restrictions on movement and vaccination drives around the world have reignited demand prospects and provided more optimism for companies, helping prices to rebound in recent months.
Including previously announced impairments due to lower oil price assumptions and other write-downs, Santos reported a full-year net loss of $357 million.
Santos declared a final dividend of 5 cents per share, the same as last year.
(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel, Bernard Orr)
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