Italian oil major ENI reports worse than expected results

Italian oil major ENI on Wednesday reported worse than expected results for the second quarter but said it was confident on its outlook thanks to an increase in production and a new discovery in Mozambique. The adjusted net profit for the second quarter went up by just 2.0 percentage points to 1.46 billion euros ($1.80 billion). Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast an adjusted net profit of 1.59 billion euros. Over the first half of the year, the adjusted net profit went up by 8.0 percent to 3.94 billion euros, the company said in its earnings report. Adjusted operating profits rose 14.2 percent to 4.24 billion euros in the second quarter. Analysts had been expecting a result of 4.38 billion euros. \"In the first half of 2012, ENI delivered excellent results with strong production growth, supported by the recovery in Libyan output,\" ENI chief executive Paolo Scaroni said in a statement. \"We have achieved unprecedented exploration success with major new discoveries and secured promising opportunities in high potential areas.\" Scaroni said he would propose an interim dividend of 0.54 euros per share to a board meeting on September 20. Investors were unimpressed however, with the company\'s share price dipping by 0.59 percent to 16.74 euros at the start of trading. ENI also on Wednesday said it had discovered a \"giant\" gas field off the coast of Mozambique with \"at least 282 billion cubic metres of gas.\" The discovery brings to 1.974 trillion cubic metres the gas discoveries in Zone 4 in offshore Mozambique where ENI is a 70-percent stakeholder. ENI also said it had signed a partnership with Russia\'s Rosneft for exploration in the Barents and Black seas, as well as buying licences in promising regions like Vietnam, Kenya and Indonesia. But the company conceded that 2012 would be a difficult year because of a slowdown in the global economic recovery.