Statoil posts worse than expected profit, cuts spending

* Q3 adjusted EBIT NOK 16.7 bln vs fcast NOK 18.0 bln

* To cut 2015 capex by another $1 bln

* Proposes Q3 dividend of $0.2201/shr as expected (Adds detail on cost cuts and delays, comment from analysts)

OSLO, Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 28 (Reuters) - Norway's Statoil (Xetra: 675213 - news) posted a third-quarter operating profit below market forecasts on Wednesday and said it has cut its capital spending for this year by another $1 billion as the oil industry struggles with low crude prices.

Adjusted operating profit fell to 16.7 billion Norwegian crowns ($1.97 billion) from 30.9 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts had been expecting a result of 18 billion crowns according to a Reuters poll.

Oil companies have been aggressively cutting spending over the past year to deal with the sharp drop in cash flows, with the cuts resulting in thousands of job losses and the scrapping of many new projects.

On Tuesday BP announced its own third round of spending cuts.

"The continued low prices in the third quarter demonstrates that we must continue to chase further cost efficiencies," Statoil Chief Executive Eldar Saetre said in a statement.

As a result Statoil is cutting its capital expenditure by $1 billion to $16.5 billion in 2015 and said it would slightly reduce its exploration budget to $3 billion from the $3.2 billion previously forecast.

"(This) should help offset the earnings miss," RBC Capital Markets analyst Biraj Borkhataria said.

Statoil also announced delays and cost overruns to the development of its UK North Sea Mariner field and the Arctic Aasta Hansteen gas field in the Norwegian Sea, adding that production was now seen starting in the second half of 2018 from a previous schedule to start in 2017.

The cost of Mariner has risen by slightly more than 10 percent compared to the original plan, while Aasta Hansteen will cost 9 percent more, and the Norwegian field would also suffer from a negative currency effect of 2.7 billion crowns.

"Norway production delivering, capex being reduced ... should offset the weaker headline number. Cost focus remains and the company is delivering," said Aneek Haq, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas (Xetra: 887771 - news) .

Statoil said asset impairments, provisions for disputes and other adjustments amounted to 9.4 billion crowns in the last quarter, driving down its net result to a loss of 2.8 billion crowns, an improvement from a loss of 4.8 billion a year earlier but missing analysts' forecasts for a profit of 5.07 billion.

However, the company said it would make a dividend payment in the third quarter of $0.2201 a share, as previously expected. ($1 = 8.4724 Norwegian crowns) (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Greg Mahlich)