French oil major Total SA's (TOT) full-year result will fall in a "significant way" in 2009, but will still be positive by "several billions," the company's chief executive tells the weekly Challenges magazine in an interview published Thursday.
Asked if weaker oil prices and the financial and economic crisis will affect the company, Christiphe de Margerie tells Challenges: "Yes, of course."
The 2009 result will be below the "famous EUR14 billion of profits of 2008, which belong to the past," de Margerie tells the magazine in an interview conducted March 23.
In referring to the EUR14 billion figure, de Margerie alludes to the company's full-year adjusted profit, of EUR13.9 billion. The company's net income was EUR10.6 billion in 2008.