In the third quarter of 2011, Petrom posted net income of RON1,176.4 million.
The company’s sales increased 17% on the year to RON6.9 billion in July-September period. Earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, stood at RON1.29 billion in the third quarter, 4% lower than RON1.34 billion in the same period a year before.
“In the third quarter of 2012 our operational result was overall in line with the same period of last year, mainly supported by a stronger USD against RON,” said Mariana Gheorghe, Petrom’s chief executive officer.
“The high crude price environment continued to benefit our performance in E&P, whilst marketing sales volumes and margins weakened.”
The net profit was hurt by a negative financial result of RON237 million. In the third quarter of 2011, the financial result was positive, at RON56.8 million.
For the first nine months of the year, Petrom reported net profit RON2.89 billion, from RON2.92 billion in the same period of 2011. Sales were up 18% at RON19.18 billion.
During the period, Petrom started commercial operations of a gas-fired power plant and is exploring the Black Sea deep waters in partnership with ExxonMobil.
“We focused our investments in the E&P segment to stabilize our hydrocarbon production, and continued our exploration efforts in the deep offshore Black Sea, as we prepared for acquiring new 3D seismic studies,” Mariana Gheorghe said.
“Going forward, we plan to further pursue our investments in the range of EUR0.8-1.2 billion per annum for the coming years, assuming robust market fundamentals and investment-friendly regulatory and fiscal regimes.”
Austria’s OMV owns 51% in Petrom, while the Romanian Economy Ministry holds a 20.6% stake and investment fund Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO) owns 20.1%. On Tuesday, Petrom shares closed up 0.5% in Bucharest. (EUR1=RON4.5209)