Santos, Australia's third-largest oil and gas producer, reported a 42% rise in annual underlying profit, boosted by strong operating performance and higher commodity prices.
The company posted an underlying profit for the year to Dec. 31 of $571.6 million. Net profit was a record $1.7 billion, lifted by a $1.2 billion profit on the sale of a 40% stake in a liquefied natural gas project to Malaysia's Petronas.
The company announced a final dividend of 20 cents, unchanged from a year earlier.
Shares rose 1.3%, or 18 cents, to $14.41 for the day.
Santos, which produced 54.4 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2008, forecast in January that its 2009 production was expected to be broadly steady at between 53-56 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).
Underlying profit exceeded the consensus analyst forecast of $558 million.
''Looking forward, Santos is well positioned despite the global financial crisis,'' Santos chief executive David Knox said in a statement.
Revenue during the year increased 11% to $2.8 billion, which was underpinned by higher oil, condensate and gas prices, and a weaker Australian dollar.
The company recorded impairment losses of $216.6 million against a number of assets including, Jeruk and Oyong in Indonesia and the Ballera Plant and Patricia Baleen projects in Australia.
The company has provided a production guidance of between 53 mmboe and 56 mmboe for the 2009 calendar year.
Santos produced 54.4 mmboe during the 2008 calendar year.
The oil and gas producer has a joint venture with Petronas to develop an LNG plant in Queensland, using coal seam gas as feed.
''Australia has a strategic advantage in its natural gas reserves - it is an abundant and reliable fuel source for low carbon intensity base load power generation,'' Mr Knox said.
A final investment decision is expected by the end of 2009 on the $7.7 billion Gladstone LNG project to enable first cargoes to be exported in early 2014.