Romanian OMV Petrom expects new record profit in 2012, ups investments to EUR 1.2 billion

Romanian oil and gas company SNP Petrom, majority owned by Austrian OMV, expects a new record profit this year, of some EUR 867.8 million (RON 3.784 billion), higher than the one posted last year- when expressed in the local currency- even if its turnover is forecast to drop in 2012. The budgeted turnover for 2012 is of EUR 3.6 billion, down 4.6 percent on 2011.

The budget proposal for 2012 will be submitted to the shareholders' vote on April 27, when the value of the proposed dividend will also be voted. Petrom plans to pay a dividend of RON 0.031 per share – translating as an 8 percent yield, given the current market price per share of RON 0.38. In total, Petrom wants to distribute EUR 415 million from its profit last year as dividends.

Petrom posted a profit of EUR 886 million last year (some RON 3.757), when the average EUR/RON rate was RON 4.23 for an EUR. The current rate is RON 4.36 per EUR. OMV Petrom foresees a smaller production of natural gad this year, some 5 billion cubic meters, 3 percent lower than in 2011. But the oil production should stay flat at some 29.3 million barrels. Petrom has budgeted EUR 1.2 billion worth of investments for this year, 8.6 percent higher than in 2011. Some EUR 423 million will go to exploration and production, while EUR 777 million will be directed to refining and marketing. Austrian OMV owns 51.1 percent of the company’s shares, the Romanian state owns 20.6 percent, while Fondul Proprietatea, has some 20.1 percent. The EBRD has a 2 percent stake and the rest is floating on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. OMV Petrom Marketing operates 546 filling stations, out of which 389 are Petrom and 157 OMV. The group also owns an international network of about 250 filling stations, in the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia. Petrom is building a 860 MW gas-fired power plant at Brazi. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Arhivafoto.ro)