Sinopec Corp said on Wednesday that it expected an 11-fold jump in quarterly net profit, and has halted trading on the Hong Kong bourse until Thursday.

In a notice to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the state-controlled energy giant said it estimated its second-quarter net profit attributable to equity holders of the company would jump more than 1,000 percent from the first quarter.

Net profit in the first quarter of 2015 stood at 2.17 billion yuan ($349.5 million), down 85 percent on year.

Sinopec halted trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, following the notice to the Shanghai bourse to give the Hong Kong bourse time to release the profit alert separately. Trading in Hong Kong will resume on Thursday morning, the company said.

The "estimated results have not been audited," it said in the profit alert.

Even with the projected 11-fold increase, second quarter net profit would still be below the 31.43 billion yuan ($5.06 billion) earned in the same quarter last year.

Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, posted its first quarterly loss - 5.3 billion yuan ($853.61 million) - in the fourth quarter of last year. The company planned to cut domestic crude output by 3.5 percent this year, according to its annual report.

Global oil prices have fallen more than 50 percent since June 2014.

Source: www.reuters.com

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