TOKYO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex) (1662.T) on Friday raised its full-year net profit and dividend forecast as higher-than-expected oil prices and weaker yen are set to support results.
Japex increased net profit forecast for the year ending in March 2024 by 32% to 45 billion yen ($297.2 million) from its August prediction and raised annual dividend forecast to 250 yen per share from 200 yen.
"We now expect stronger earnings as firmer-than-expected oil prices and the yen's depreciation will boost our sales prices of oil and natural gas," Michiro Yamashita, senior managing executive officer, told a press conference.
Its half-year net profit was down 12% to 27.8 billion yen due to a fall in oil prices from a year earlier and smaller gains from its equity holdings in some overseas energy projects.
An absence of profit contribution from Russia's Sakhalin 1 oil and gas project where Japex holds a stake via Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co (SODECO) reduced non-operating profit by about 3 billion yen for the first-half, Yamashita said.
Persons:
Michiro Yamashita, Japex, Yamashita, SODECO, Vladimir Putin, Japan's, Russia's, ONGC, Yuka Obayashi, Katya Golubkova, Tomasz Janowski
Organizations:
Japan Petroleum Exploration Co, Sakhalin Oil, Gas Development, Exxon, U.S ., Thomson
Locations:
TOKYO, Russia's Sakhalin, Sakhalin, Russian, U.S, Ukraine