RusEnergy

RBC, 08.05.2007, Moscow 13:02:15 – Itera's net profit under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) surged 78.5 percent to RUR951.212m (approx. USD36.95m) in the first quarter of 2007 compared to the same period a year earlier, the Russian oil and gas company's press office reported. Itera attributes the increase in net profit to higher natural gas prices, which have pushed sales revenue up from RUR7.092bn (approx. USD275.52m) in Q1 2006 to RUR8.158bn (approx. USD316.94m) in Q1 2007. At the same time, the cost of sales grew a mere four percent. As a result, the company was able to boost sales profit by RUR469.678m (approx. USD18.25m) to RUR1.28bn (approx. USD49.73m) in the period in question.