By Giulia Petroni

Total SE said Thursday that it swung to net loss in the second quarter following exceptional asset impairments.

The French energy major said posted a quarterly loss of $8.37 billion from a profit of $2.76 billion in the year-earlier period. On an adjusted basis, profit came in at $126 million.

On Wednesday, Total said it booked exceptional impairments of $8.1 billion in the second quarter as it revised price assumptions for the coming years downward and slashed the value of some of its oil assets. Impairments are expected to impact its gearing ratio by 1.3%.

Hydrocarbon production for the quarter decreased 4% on year to 2.85 million barrels of oil equivalent a day compared with 2.96 million BOE/D in the year-earlier period, mainly due to OPEC+ productions restraints. The company said it expects production in the range of 2.9 million BOE/D and 2.95 million BOE/D in the full year.

Sales in the second quarter amounted to $25.73 billion compared with $51.24 billion a year earlier, it said.

Total said the board has decided to maintain the second interim dividend for 2020 at EUR0.66 a share and reaffirmed its sustainability in a $40 a barrel Brent environment. 



  Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com