Repsol posts fourth-quarter loss on YPF impairment charge

Spanish oil major Repsol on Tuesday reported a net loss of 1.028 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in the fourth quarter after writing down the value of energy assets seized by the Argentine government two years ago.

The results publication came a day ahead of schedule and followed approval by Repsol's board of a $5 billion settlement from Argentina over its 2012 expropriation of Repsol's majority stake in energy company YPF .

Repsol said CCS net, which takes into account changes in the value of inventories (CCS), compared with a fourth quarter net profit of 342 million euros a year earlier.

Excluding one-off items, the company posted a CCS net profit of 251 million euros in the fourth quarter, down 51.5 percent from a year earlier due to prolonged outages in Libya and weak refining margins.

That figure topped an average Reuters poll forecast for 236 million euros. ($1 = 0.7282 euros)

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski, Editing by Sarah White)