Cnooc Falls in Hong Kong on Earnings Decline Report

"Cnooc Falls in Hong Kong on Earnings Decline Report | AboutHK.Com - More Information About HK"

Bloomberg Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil producer, declined the most in almost a month in Hong Kong trading after the Wall Street Journal said the company’s nine- month pretax profit fell 46 percent from a year earlier. The shares dropped as much as 2.7 percent, the most since Sept. 24, and were at HK$12.30 at 3:08 p.m. local time. Cnooc has advanced 70 percent in Hong Kong this year, compared with the 56 percent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. Pretax profit fell to 28.31 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) and revenue declined about 34 percent to 56.2 billion yuan, mainly because of lower oil prices, the report said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Xiao Zongwei, Cnooc’s spokesman in Beijing, declined to comment on the report. The Hong Kong stock exchange declined to comment on whether today’s report constituted a breach of company rules on the disclosure of financial results. “It is the stock exchange’s general policy not to comment on individual companies,” it said in an e-mailed statement. Net income dropped 55 percent in the first half to 12.4 billion yuan, beating estimates, after oil prices recovered from a February low and China’s economic growth accelerated in the second quarter. Cnooc doesn’t announce nine-month earnings. “If correct these would be very encouraging results,” said David Hewitt, a Tokyo-based energy analyst at CLSA Asia Pacific Markets. “Cnooc will benefit from rising crude oil prices as a pure upstream player in China.” To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .