Aug 23 (Reuters) - Santos Ltd STO.AX , Australia's second-largest independent gas producer, reported on Thursday a near doubling in first-half underlying profit and revived its dividend, scrapped more than two years ago, after slashing debt.
Underlying profit for the half-year ended June 30 rose to $217 million from $109 million a year earlier, beating a forecast of $189 million from Royal Bank of Canada.
Santos declared an interim dividend of $0.035 a share.
It suspended dividends in 2016, diverting cash to pay down debt which peaked for the construction of its Gladstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project just as oil prices collapsed.