LONDON: British oil major BP on Tuesday reported a 62-percent slide in first-quarter net profits to 2.387 billion dollars (1.834 billion euros), as the price of crude halved. The data excludes changes in the value of oil held in stock, a key measure for the industry, and compares with net profits of 6.231 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2008. Production for the quarter rose 2.6 percent to 4.016 billion barrels, which includes gas calculated in equivalent terms of oil barrels, compared to a year earlier, BP added in an earnings statement. BP saw its profits plunge as the price of crude oil tumbled from more than 100 dollars a barrel in the first quarter of 2008 to below 50 dollars a year later as the global economic slump sharply reduced demand for energy. BP on Tuesday said group sales slumped by 46 percent to 47.296 billion dollars in the first quarter.