Total on hunt for deals after outperforming rivals

By Bate Felix PARIS (Reuters) - French oil company Total is on the hunt to buy assets from struggling rivals, it said on Thursday, as it reported some of the biggest profits in the industry for last year and raised its dividend. Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said Total was reaping the benefit of cutting costs more quickly than competitors following the start of an oil price rout in 2014, and of focusing on projects with lower production costs. Total said it made an adjusted net profit of $8.2