(Reuters) - Profit at MOL almost doubled in the third quarter thanks to a strong performance by the Hungarian oil and gas group's refining business due to improved product margins and inventory gains.
MOL's net profit jumped to 67.5 billion forints (USD299 mln) from 36.4 billion in the same period of 2011 while group operating profit, excluding special items, surged to 117.2 billion forints from 64.5 billion.
"Increasing profitability was mainly attributable to an improving downstream performance, which is due to better product margins, higher sales volumes and inventory gains," MOL said in its report published on Wednesday.
Helped by higher crack spreads and inventory gains, as well as higher refinery output, MOL's downstream business made an operating profit excluding one-off items of 54.3 billion forints versus a loss of 17 billion in the same period of 2011.
MOL Group is a leading integrated Central and East European oil and gas corporation with an extensive international Upstream and Downstream portfolio.
TVK is wholly owned by Hungary's MOL group. TVK is a significant player in market of polyolefins in Ukraine.
MRC