News: Australia's Santos swings to first-half profit, but pays no dividend

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Santos Ltd (STO) swung to a first-half underlying profit on Thursday, beating analyst estimates, helped by strong oil and gas prices and lower production costs, but held off on reinstating a dividend payout as it focuses on paying down debt.

Australia's second-largest independent oil and gas producer reported underlying profit of $156 million for the six months to June, its biggest since the first half of 2014, up from a loss of $5 million a year ago.

The profit was better than analysts' forecasts of around $130.25 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

At the bottom line, the company reported a net loss of $506 million, hurt by a new impairment charge of $690 million it flagged last week on its Gladstone liquefied natural gas (GLNG) project.