BUDAPEST--Hungarian oil-and-gas company MOL Nyrt. (MOL.BU) saw
its unadjusted profit halved in the fourth quarter versus a year
ago, underpinning analysts' expectations of a weak refining
environment, the company's earnings report published early Tuesday
showed.
MAIN FACTS:
--MOL's fourth-quarter unadjusted net profit of HUF4.86 billion
forints ($21.5 million) halved versus a net profit of HUF9.5
billion a year earlier mainly as the result of a deteriorating
output in the downstream segment.
--Adjusted Ebitda, which analysts watch closely to gauge
efficiency, dropped mainly due to the weak downstream performance:
seasonally lower demand and sales in refining, marketing and
retail; the collapse of the gasoline crack spread; lower integrated
petrochemicals margins; and unfavorable foreign currency rate
trends. Adjusted Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization, came in at HUF122 billion, down 12%
from a year earlier but higher than the HUF102.8 billion analysts
had forecast.
--The company's upstream results improved however, as decreasing
production and slightly deteriorating average prices were balanced
by lower provisions than were earlier planned in Hungarian
operations, the company said.
--One-off items impacting the bottom line included the
state-initiated sale of the Hungarian gas storage business, which
boosted reported Ebitda by HUF19 billion. In the meantime, the
revision of the asset base in the upstream business in Syria and
the downstream business in Croatia together reduced reported Ebit,
or earnings before interest and taxes, by HUF50 billion.
--MOL's Croatian oil-and-gas company INA (INA.ZG), which MOL is
mulling to sell as a result of a spat with fellow INA major owner
the Croatian government, earlier also posted disappointing
results.
--"The European downstream landscape is still characterized by
depressed macroeconomic conditions," said Zsolt Hernadi, chief
executive and chairman, said in the earnings report, noting he
expected the refining environment to remain weak also in 2014.
--MOL shares closed up 1.8% Monday at HUF13,590 on the Budapest
Stock Exchange.
Write to Veronika Gulyas at veronika.gulyas@wsj.com
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