CALGARY – Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE) reported a first-quarter profit of $171 million, down from $426 million a year ago, as it was hit by unrealized hedging and foreign exchange losses.

The company said the profit amounted to 23 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with 56 cents per share a year ago.

Revenue was $4.32 billion, down from $4.69 billion.

Excluding the unrealized hedging and foreign exchange losses, Cenovus said it earned $391 million or 52 cents per share for the quarter, up from $340 million or 45 cents per share a year ago.

Cash flow totalled $971 million or $1.29 per share, up from $904 million or $1.19 per share a year ago, boosted by the company’s refining operations.

“Our refining business continues to deliver excellent results, clearly demonstrating the benefit of our integrated strategy,” Cenovus chief executive Brian Ferguson said in statement.

“We also delivered another quarter of strong oil production growth, mainly due to our oil sands assets.”

Oilsands production increased to 100,347 barrels per day for the quarter, up from 81,947 bpd, while conventional oil production increased to 79,878 bpd, up from 74,903 bpd.

Natural gas production slipped to 545 million cubic feet per day from 636 million a year ago.

All of Cenovus’ oilsands developments use steam to liquefy the sticky bitumen deep underground so it can be more easily drawn to the surface.

Its Christina Lake and Foster Creek developments are part of a 50-50 joint venture with Houston energy giant ConocoPhillips. It also has interests in two U.S. refineries with Phillips 66.

Like many of its peers, Cenovus has been eager to expand the market reach of the oil it produces. With the fate of the Keystone XL pipeline and other proposals up in the air, the company has been exploring other means of transport such as rail and barge. It has also been committing volumes to several pipelines to various markets so as not to put all of its eggs in one basket.

Cenovus was created in 2009 when Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA) spun off its oil and refinery assets from its natural gas business.