Oil firm Repsol YPF SA declared that its adjusted profit dropped 61% in the third quarter due to the decreased refining margins and the decline in output.

The clean replacement cost of supplies or the adjusted net profit, excluding the inventory effects decreased to EUR279 million in the third quarter, from EUR723 million in a year earlier.

Merrill lynch analyst Mr. Hootan Yizhari said that although refining margins were low, Repsol had managed to avoid an even worse result in the downstream business with the help of good marketing and reasonably good chemical sales and cost cutting.

At the end of the third quarter, Repsol’s net debt increased to EUR10.56 billion from EUR10.41 billion at the end of second quarter.