MOSCOW (MRC) -- Unipetrol AS, the largest Czech refiner, booked a second-quarter loss after lowering the value of its refinery assets, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.
The loss widened to 3.5 billion koruna (USD172 million) in the three months ended June 30 from a loss of 429 million koruna (USD21 million) a year earlier, the Prague-based company said on July 23 in an e-mailed statement. Without the impairment charge, Unipetrol would have earned a profit of 346 million koruna (USD17 million).
Unipetrol took an impairment charge of 4.7 billion koruna (USD230 million) on its refinery assets to reflect the worsening economic outlook. The refining segment, Unipetrol’s main source of revenue, remained "very difficult" with a margin of USD0.5 per barrel, the company said.
"We decided to book the one-time impairment of fixed assets because of the worsening mid-term outlook for the refinery segment," CEO Marek Switajewski said in the statement. "We’ve managed to improve revenue in all production segments."
The loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization was 3.5 billion koruna (USD172 million), the company said. Sales jumped 31% to 32.4 billion koruna (USD1.6 million) during the period.
As MRC informed previously, last year, Unipetrol acquired technology and production rights for a new polyethylene unit and wants to pick a contractor for the project in the first half of 2014. The company, after posting net losses in 2011 and 2012, laid out plans to invest almost USD1 billion over the next five years and make its petrochemical segment the biggest contributor to profit.
Unipetrol expects petrochemicals to become the largest source of revenue for the company in 2013-2017. Unipetrol wants to use the favourable market conditions to reinforce its position on the petrochemical market and optimise its operations.
Unipetrol , a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 Unipetrol became a part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest oil processor in Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is oriented mostly towards oil processing, fuel distribution and petrochemical production. In all of these business areas the Unipetrol Group is among the key players both in the Czech Republic and on the Central European market. The Group ranks among the leading firms in the Czech Republic in terms of its revenues, and employs almost 4,000 people.
MRC