STA, 20 November 2020 - The energy group Petrol saw its revenue drop by 30% year-on-year in the first nine months of the year to EUR 2.29 billion. Its net profit was at EUR 40.5 million, a 49% drop compared to the same period in 2019, the core company said in a press release on Friday following a supervisory board meeting.
The group's adjusted gross profit for the first nine months stood at EUR 301.9 million, a drop of 13% year-on-year.
The drop in performance has been attributed to "a drop in petroleum product sales resulting from movement restrictions introduced by governments to contain the pandemic and from the economic downturn the pandemic had caused".
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 25% year-on-year to EUR 114.4 million. This was, however, still better than Petrol's main competitors in the region, the company said.
About 44% of EBITDA was generated by petroleum product sales, 21% by merchandise sales and related services, 17% by the sale of other energy products such as natural gas, electricity and LPG, 15% by the sale of energy and environmental solutions, and 3% by renewable electricity production.
Petroleum product sales were down 21% to 2.3 million tonnes, liquefied petroleum gas sales totalled 114.3 thousand tonnes, which was 17% less than in the same period of the previous year. Electricity sales stood at 15.7 TWh and natural gas sales at 19.9 TWh.
The group generated EUR 345.2 million in merchandise sales, a 3% decrease compared to the same period of the previous year.
At the end of September, the group operated 510 service stations, of which 318 in Slovenia, 110 in Croatia, 42 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 15 in Serbia, 15 in Montenegro and 10 in Kosovo.
The group has drawn up different scenarios for operations this year due to the uncertain conditions. The projection is that amount of petroleum products sold will reach between 83% and 86% of last year's figure.
Gross operating profit could stand between 73% and 79% of last year's of between 77% and 84% when not factoring in one off events, with EUR 11 million worth of these having been excluded from last year's operating profit.
The Petrol group spent EUR 46.4 million on net investments in property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and long-term investments, which compares to EUR 84.3 million in the first nine months of 2019.
Out of the above amount, 33% was allocated for sales in Slovenia, 23% for energy and environmental solutions, 18% for sales in SE Europe, 10% for the upgrading of information and other infrastructure, 9% for renewable electricity production, and 7% for mobility.
The group had a 5,230-strong workforce at the end of September, 35% of which at subsidiaries abroad. The number of employees decreased by 45 compared to the end of 2019.
