CITIC Resources Holdings Ltd, a unit of China's fourth-largest oil producer, reported yesterday that profit rose 14 percent in the first half as the nation's demand for energy and resources increased.
Net income climbed to HK$138.3 million (US$18 million), or 2.83 Hong Kong cents a share, from HK$121.2 million, or 2.78 cents a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Sales rose to HK$5.2 billion.
The company is transforming itself from a metals producer to a supplier of oil. Shareholders of government-backed Citic Resources approved the US$1 billion acquisition of a Kazakhstan oil field from its parent in June, adding to oil output in Indonesia, where the company bought its first energy asset last year.
"The board expects oil to be important for the group's overall development as an energy and resources company," the statement said. The company's businesses "continued to perform satisfactorily during the first half of 2007."
Citic Resources shares have more than doubled in Hong Kong trading this year, outpacing the 30 percent advance in the city's benchmark Hang Seng Index, according to Bloomberg News.
The company last month agreed to conduct joint exploration with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co in countries including Indonesia.
Parent Citic Group agreed to buy the Karazhanbas field in Kazakhstan from Canada's Nations Energy Co in October for US$1.9 billion.