Malaysia's Sapura Energy 1st-Quarter Profit Falls 75%

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia--Sapura Energy Bhd. (5218.KU), Malaysia's largest oil-and-gas services firm by market value, said Monday its net profit for the first quarter ended April dropped 75% on-year mainly due to lower revenue, and higher taxes and finance costs.

Net profit for the February-April period declined to MYR27.53 million ($6.44 million) from MYR110.31 million the same quarter a year ago, according to a local stock-exchange filing.

Revenue declined 8.9% to MYR1.77 billion during the quarter from MYR1.94 billion a year ago, mainly dragged down by lower sales at its drilling and exploration, and production business divisions, according to the filing.

Moving forward, Sapura Energy said the outlook for crude-oil prices remains uncertain.

"The trend of prolonged low levels of capital spending is expected to continue and poses significant challenges to the industry," it said in notes accompanying its financial statements.

Sapura Energy said its board expected the challenging environment to persist in the short and medium term, but was confident that its plans that have been put in place will help it navigate through this period.

Shares of Sapura Energy ended Monday 0.5% higher at MYR1.85 before the earnings release. Shares of the company have climbed some 14% year-to-date.

Write to Yantoultra Ngui at yantoultra.ngui@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 19, 2017 06:08 ET (10:08 GMT)