Russia’s oil giant Rosneft reported near £700million (35billion roubles) net income for the second quarter of 2013 – despite the costly TNK-BP buyout sparking a three-fold increase in the company’s debt.
The acquisition of the third biggest oil producer in Russia cost Rosneft nearly £36billion, raising debt at the group from £12billion last year.
The figures beat analyst forecasts of a net income of £620million this quarter, but the higher-than-expected results are still down on the results from the first quarter of the year.
Weakening of the Russian rouble, a 6% fall in oil prices compared to last year and high export duties were blamed for the drop.