Reuters) -Woodside Energy Group Ltd more than tripled its interim dividend payout on Tuesday after the Australian gas producer posted a five-time increase in first-half profit on booming oil and gas prices.
LNG prices have soared as sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine have worsened supply issues in an already tight market, leading buyers from Asia and Europe to seek alternative suppliers, benefiting producers in countries such Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Woodside, among the top 10 global independent oil and gas producers after its merger with BHP’s petroleum arm, announced an interim dividend of $1.09 per share, a more than three-fold increase on its last year’s payout of 30 cents a share.
“Our first results since the completion of the merger with BHP’s petroleum business highlight the increased financial and operational strength delivered by our larger, geographically diverse portfolio of high-quality operating assets,” Chief Executive Officer Meg O’Neill said.
Woodside posted an underlying net profit after tax, excluding one-time charges, of $1.82 billion compared with a profit of $354 million a year earlier.
The profit for the six months ended June 30, beat estimate of around $1.49 billion, according to Visible Alpha.
Australia’s biggest independent gas producer said it expects exploration expenditure of $400–$500 million in fiscal 2022.
(Reporting by Riya Sharma and Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
