TotalEnergies Clocks $9.9 Billion Profit In Q3, Books New Russian Impairment

TotalEnergies posted a sharp jump in its third quarter net profit compared with a year ago, as it joined other energy giants in its sector to have benefited from higher oil and gas prices, although it also booked a new Russia-related impairment.

TotalEnergies' third-quarter adjusted net income stood at $9.86 billion. That compared with $4.77 billion for the same period in 2021, and $9.8 billion in the second quarter of this year.

The company also announced a new impairment of $3.1 billion, which it said was related to Russia, adding to $7.6 billion of provisions in the first two quarters of the year. The overall Russia writedown is among the largest booked by Western companies, even though it is not as big as BP's more than $25 billion impairment for exiting the country.

Oil and gas prices have risen this year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Shell on Thursday also reported a third-quarter profit of $9.45 billion and announced plans to sharply boost its dividend by year end.

Unlike London-based rivals BP and Shell, TotalEnergies has held on to several investments in Russia, including minority stakes in Russia's Novatek, Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2.

Asked about the reason for the provision, a TotalEnergies spokesman referred to comments made by the company's chairman and chief executive, Patrick Pouyanne, at an investor presentation last month. Pouyanne said then that it was becoming "complex" for Western groups to receive dividends from Russian joint ventures and stake holdings.

"I'm not convinced we will continue to have any flows from Russia in the months to come," Pouyanne said at the time.

At that presentation in late September, TotalEnergies said it would increase investments and ramp up production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as it laid out its strategy for a possible future without Russia - while still stopping short of severing its Russian links.

TotalEnergies, which has faced strike action by some refinery workers in France, also announced on Thursday a one-off salary bonus to staff to reflect its bumper profits.