The latest such impairment taken in the fourth quarter of 2015 stood at EUR400 milion and could cancel the EUR223 million profit posted in the first nine months, as analysts say it cannot be offset by the results of the other divisions.
If the expectations of the analysts, who all see the company slip into the red in 2015 turn out to be true, last year will be Petrom’s first loss-making year since its privatization in 2004. The company will post its 2015 results on February 18.
“I don’t think there’s any chance of seeing Petrom break even at the end of 2015. It will definitely be in the red,” says a capital market analyst.
“The question is how high this loss will be. Honestly I don’t know how it can make profit this year (2015 i.e.),” stock market experts added.
The wave of pessimistic estimates about Petrom’s 2015 results came after the publication by its majority shareholder OMV of its traditional trading statement last week, a document that provides details about production and information about the special steps taken and about the state of the market.
“Further reductions in the price of oil and gas, together with increased market volatility have caused us to further review our price assumptions for both the short and longer term. These revised assumptions have required impairments to asset valuations in Upstream, covering assets under production and development, as well as exploration assets, to be recognized during Q4/15 in the amount of approximately EUR 1.5 billion, thereof approximately EUR 0.4 billion attributable to producing assets in OMV Petrom,” reads the OMV’s trading statement published at the end of last week.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)