Total 1Q Net Profit -36%; Hydrocarbons Production -4.3%

French oil giant Total SA (TOT) Wednesday reported a 36% fall in first-quarter net profit, making it the latest major to be hit by falling oil and gas demand and prices.

France's biggest company by market value said net profit fell to EUR2.29 billion, for the three months ended March. 31 from EUR3.6 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, first-quarter adjusted net profit, which excludes inventory changes, non-recurring items, and the group's equity share of the amortization of intangibles related to the Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) merger, fell 35% to EUR2.11 billion, from EUR3.25 billion, Total said.

Adjusted net profit is the figure most closely watched by analysts. Total's first-quarter adjusted net profit beats an average estimate of EUR2 billion, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 13 analysts.

Shares of Total have declined by 28% over the past year, as the price of oil has plummeted. The shares closed Tuesday in Paris down 0.3% at EUR39.15 each.

Total said hydrocarbon production fell to an average of 2.32 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter, down 4.3%. The biggest factor hindering production was the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' production cuts, Total said.

Company Web site: http://www.total.com

-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires, [phone]; [e-mail]