SLOVNAFT Group reports profit for 2012

28-3-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — SLOVNAFT Group in 2012 ended with a net profit of EUR 53 million compared to previous period when a loss amounted to EUR 19 million. The result was positively influenced mainly by the revenues coming from export markets where ends almost three quarters of the Group’s production, as well as by improvement of processing and sales margins on international stocks and by several measures taken on the sides of the expenditures. The company plans to use the improved economic results in 2012 for creating a provision for development investments in the upcoming years, as well as for potential worsening of external conditions in connection with expected uncertain global macroeconomic growth.

In 2012 year-on-year net turnover decreased by 2 percent to EUR 4.63 billion as a result of decreased demand for crude oil products and decrease in sales due to realization of overhauls at production units.

“SLOVNAFT Group ended the last quarter of the previous year, as well as the whole 2012 with a positive economic result. Besides effects arising from various measures taken in expenditures the major influence on the achieved profit came from our export activity. Realizing three quarters of our production on the regional and West-European markets have helped us to return to profit mainly due to slightly improved oil products prices on international commodity stocks” said Oszkár Világi, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of SLOVNAFT, a.s.

The total amount of crude oil products sale in the previous period reached 5.36 million tons of which 3.84 million tons was exported and 1.52 million tons went to the domestic market.

Capital expenditures of SLOVNAFT Group in 2012 amounted to EUR 146 million, on a year-to-year they increased by almost 23 percent. A significant part of our investments was used for projects focused on improvement of production efficiency, maintaining operational reliability, and improvement of production quality in refinery. For upcoming periods Slovnaft, together with its transnational mother – MOL Group – is planning to make major investments amounting to approximately EUR 450 million.

“In line with interconnection of refinery and petrochemical production we will continue in our main project that is construction of a new polyethylene production line in Bratislava. Investment into Friendship-1 pipeline capacity increase will help to increase supply safety to the refinery and to Slovakia as such. We plan to continue in modernizing of our network of petrol stations. I am convinced that combination of more efficient production together with new investments will help us, together with above-average technological equipment of the refinery and favorable production portfolio, to survive adverse periods and to use good times to the maximum. We expect that the crude oil processing sector will be marked by high fluctuations in profitability also in the upcoming quarters and we want to be ready“ added Oszkár Világi.

In 2012 Slovnaft processed in refinery in Bratislava 5.4 million tons of crude oil that was in 10 percent less than in the previous year. Decrease of the amount of processed crude oil was influenced by a higher number of general audits and by decrease of demand for motor fuels.

Petrol fuels production in 2012 decreased in 4 percent to 1.41 million tons. Diesel oil production has reached 2.86 million tons and it has decreased by 11 percent on a year-on-year. Also petrochemical production has decreased by 29 percent to 311 thousand tons.

The company was running 209 petrol stations at the end of the previous year, their number has not changed in comparison with the previous quarter. In the last quarter of 2012 Slovnaft completed construction works on the markets of new petrol stations on D1 motorway that should be opened at the beginning of 2013 and it continued reconstructing its retail selling net.

SLOVNAFT Group had 3328 employees as of the end of December. Our network of petrol stations was operated by approximately 1700 employees of our business partners.

For more information on the results of SLOVNAFT Group visit:
http://www.slovnaft.sk/en/about_slovnaft/for_investors/

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