Lundin Petroleum Slumps To Six-Month Low

Lundin
Petroleum AB, Sweden‘s
largest oil explorer, with new licenses in Malaysia,
Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia
plunged to a six-month low in Stockholm
trading after second-quarter profit missed estimates and the company cut its
production forecast.
    The shares
fell as much as 5.25 kronor, or 7.3 percent, to 66.5 kronor, the steepest
decline since May 8. They traded at 68.75 kronor as 10:18 a.m. local time,
valuing the company at 21.7 billion kronor ($3.4 billion).
    “Earnings
before interest and taxes came in 18 percent below market estimates and on top
of that their production guidance for 2008 was slightly weaker,” Christian
Dahlberg, an analyst at SEB Enskilda with a `neutral’ recommendation on the
stock, said from Stockholm.
    Lundin
brought on new production from the Alvheim field in Norway. It’s also expanding in
Southeast Asia with new licenses in Malaysia,
Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia,
as well as in Sudan and Congo. Sales of
oil and gas increased 23 percent to 1.7 billion kronor in the second quarter,
the company said.