OMV petrom, the biggest oil and gas group in Romania, reported a net profit of RON 1.85 billion (EUR 406 million) in the first nine months of this year, up 110% over the same period of 2016. The group’s consolidated sales went up by 20% year-on-year, to RON 14.3 billion (EUR 3.14 billion).

The company benefitted from highest oil prices, which compensated for the overall production drop.

In the third quarter, OMV Petrom’s sales went up by 10%, to RON 5.03 billion and the net profit increased by 35%, to RON 638 million.

“In Q3/17, we enjoyed another quarter with strong macroeconomic fundamentals supporting higher demand for our products and higher sales volumes. We benefitted from increased commodity prices and very strong refining margins. In addition, we continued our strict cost discipline to increase our competitive position and moved forward with investments,” said OMV Petrom CEO Mariana Gheorghe.

The group expects the overall investments for this year to be below EUR 700 million.

OMV petrom’s shares, which are trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, went down by 1.36% yesterday, despite the higher profit announced for the first nine months. The company currently has a market capitalization of EUR 3.55 billion.

editor@romania-insider.com