Repsol to buy back shares after second-quarter earnings beat

MADRID (Reuters) -Repsol plans to buy back an additional 20 million outstanding shares, the Spanish oil company said on Wednesday, after higher oil prices helped it beat second-quarter profit expectations.

Repsol posted an adjusted net profit of 859 million euros ($931.93 million), up from 827 million a year earlier and above the 751 million expected by analysts polled by the company.

Its net profit jumped to 657 million euros from 308 million.

The company attributed the profit rise to higher oil prices, lower costs and a stronger dollar against the euro, among other factors.

The lower-than-expected gas prices so far this year have hit Repsol, though, the company said, adding its cash flow from operations will likely end the year at the lower end of its target range of between 6.5 billion and 7 billion euros, Chief Executive Josu Jon Imaz told analysts and investors.

The new 20 million share buyback programme, which is worth 274 million euros at market prices, follows a 40 million share buyback in the first half of the year, Repsol said.

If the company's business environment improves, Repsol may announce another share buyback in October, Imaz said in a conference call held to discuss earnings.

As a result of the sharebuyback, the company's net debt rose by 694 million euros during the quarter to 4.6 billion euros.

Repsol pledged earlier this year to hand as much as 10 billion euros via dividends and buybacks to its shareholders by 2027.

It follows other big oil firms which have increased payouts in an attempt to reassure investors of their discipline and resilience in the face of an uncertain outlook for fossil fuels.

($1 = 0.9217 euros)

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; editing by Jason Neely, Alexandra Hudson)