Plunging ruble sends Rosneft profit down 14%

 A fast-depreciating ruble and stalled crude production rates ledRussia's state-held oil giant Rosneft to post a 14 percent slump in profits for thefirst quarter of 2014.The world's largest publicly traded oil producer reported a net income of 88 billionrubles ($2.5 billion, 1.8 billion euros) and a meagre 0.5 percent rise in oil andliquids production rates.Rosneft said its foreign exchange losses amounted to 84 billion rubles ($2.4 billion)-- slightly better than the $2.9 billion forecasted by Moscow's VTB Capitalinvestment bank.VTB Capital noted that the Russian currency had lost 15 percent of its value againstthe dollar in the three-month reporting period due to massive foreign capitaloutflows linked to fears over the escalating crisis in neighbouring Ukraine.