Feb 21 (Reuters) - Santos Ltd STO.AX , Australia's No. 2 independent gas producer, reported an above two-fold rise in annual underlying profit on Thursday, helped by the acquisition of Quadrant assets and higher realised prices for its oil and gas.
Underlying profit for 2018 rose to $727 million, which the company said is a record figure, from $318 million a year earlier. Four analysts on an average had expected underlying profit of $609.5 million, according to Refinitiv data.
The Adelaide-based company declared a final dividend of 6.2 cents a share. It had revived the payout policy with an interim payment for the half-year ended June 30, 2018 following a more than two-year lull.