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Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, disclosed its worst quarterly earnings performance in more than a decade late Friday, registering a net loss in the second quarter on a weaker real currency and heavy fuel imports.

Petrobras reported a second-quarter net loss of 1.35 billion Brazilian reais ($668 million), down from a net profit of BRL10.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. That was far below the BRL3.6 billion profit expected by 11 analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. Petrobras reported the second-quarter results under International Financial Reporting Standards.

"We are working to recover our profitability," said Chief Executive Maria das Gracas Foster, who took over from Jose Sergio Gabrielli in January, in a statement.

Ms. Foster faces a difficult task in turning around the federal oil company, which has seen profits eroded and a refining shortfall exacerbated over the past year by growing imports of gasoline and diesel fuel needed to meet rising demand in Brazil.

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