Austrian oil and gas group OMV ups profit on high oil prices

Oil and gas company OMV had 6 percent higher profit before taxes in 2011 than in 2010, reaching EUR 2.4 billion. “2011 was a successful year for OMV Group. The year was dominated by the Arab spring which led to high oil prices on the one side but missing volumes from Libya and Yemen on the other. Despite this challenging environment we achieved a strong operating result above last year’s level and strengthened our company’s financial position to make it fit for the years to come,” says Gerhard Roiss, CEO of OMV (in picture). Even though in 2011 the company's profit grew comparative to 2010, the profit in the fourth quarter of 2011 was 8 percent lower than during the same period of 2010. „In Q4/11 results were supported by a favorable crude price environment and an improved refining performance, but were, at the same time, burdened by significant net special charges. The Group’s reported earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 533 million was 8 percent below Q4/10,” OMV writes in its recent report. The total OMV daily production of oil, natural gas liquids and gas in the fourth quarter of 2011 was 10 percent below the same period of last year mainly due to the political instability in Libya and Yemen. The Romanian branch of OMV, Petrom’s EBIT (profit before taxes) contribution in 2011 stood at EUR 1.2 billion, up 64 percent from EUR 789 million the year before. As for the fourth quarter in 2011 Petrom’s EBIT increased to EUR 272 million compared with EUR 229 million in the same period of last year, although it was burdened by a provision for the fine imposed on Petrom as a result of the antitrust investigation by the Romanian Competition Council. The company created provisions of EUR 120 million last year, on account of the fine from the Competition Council. The Competition Council in Romania announced it would fine the six largest oil companies in Romania by up to 3 percent of their 2010 turnover for allegedly agreeing to withdraw a type of gas. OMV Petrom posted its highest net profit ever last year: EUR 886 million, up 72 percent on the year before. Its turnover stood at EUR 5.3 million, slightly below its record turnover from 2008, of EUR 5.4 million. The business growth slowed down in the last quarter of the year, when turnover went up by 17 percent and profit, by 7 percent. OMV Petrom is the largest oil and gas company in Romania. It extracts 805 million barrels of oil in Romania and has a refining capacity of 4.5 million tonnes a year. It runs 800 gas stations in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia. The company is majority owned by Austrian OMV. Romania’s Economy Ministry owns 20.64 percent of the company’s shares. Fondul Propietatea owns 20.11 percent and EBRD, 2 percent. Some 6.2 percent is traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, where its capitalization is of around EUR 5 billion.