Romanian OMV Petrom’s profit drops by a quarter in the first half

Oil&gas group OMV Petrom ended the first half of 2015 with a net profit of RON 1.04 billion (EUR 234 million), down 25% year-on-year. In the first half of 2014, the company had a net profit of RON 1.38 billion. Its sales also dropped by 18% in this period, compared to the first six months of 2014, to RON 8.81 billion (EUR 1.98 billion), mainly due to lower oil prices, according to the company’s financial report. The group’s EBIT amounted to RON 1.28 billion (EUR 288), 39% lower than the result posted in the first half of the previous year. “In the first six months, we have focused on ensuring a sustainable and profitable business in a potentially persistent low crude price environment. We have implemented measures to reduce operating costs and increase the efficiency of our operations, while maintaining safety as a top priority. In order to preserve cash flow and maintain a strong balance sheet our investments were prioritized based on long term value generation and therefore the Group achieved a capital spending drop of approx. 30%, in line with expectations,” said Mariana Gheorghe, OMV Petrom’s CEO. “For the second half of the year, the Romanian authorities have announced public consultations on the fiscal and regulatory environment. As outlined before, we aim for a stable, predictable and investment friendly framework, which are key requirements for future investments,” she added. In the second quarter of 2015, the group registered a profit of RON 691 million (EUR 155.6 million), more than double compared to the RON 312 million registered in the same period the year before. Its sales amounted to RON 4.54 billion (EUR 1.02 billion) in this period, down 16% year-on-year. Romania’s OMV Petrom introduces mobile gas stations. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com