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OSLO, April 29 (Reuters) - Norway's Equinor raised
its dividend and posted a bigger-than-expected rise in
first-quarter operating profits on Thursday, boosted by higher
oil and gas prices as well as large one-off gains at its
renewable energy business.
It will pay a dividend of $0.15 per share for the quarter,
up from $0.12 paid for the final three months of 2020.
Adjusted profit before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to $5.47
billion in the quarter from $2.05 billion during the same period
a year ago, exceeding the $5.3 billion predicted in a poll of 22
analysts compiled by Equinor.
"With sustained improvements and capital discipline, we are
able to capture value from recovering oil and gas prices and
achieve our best quarterly results since 2014," Chief Executive
Anders Opedal said in a statement.
It was the first time Equinor reported detailed earnings
from its renewables divison, which benefitted strongly from the
company's sale of stakes in wind farms off the coasts of Britain
and the United States.
The unit's combined gains from divestments amounted to some
$1.4 billion for the quarter, the company said.
Equinor is the first major oil firm to report its renewables
segment separately, while European peers such as BP,
Shell and Total combine their renewables
business results with natural gas, marketing or other segments.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)
