Rompetrol Rafinare (Petromidia refinery) ended last year with net profit worth 2,878 billion ROL (87 million dollars), compared to the previous year’s losses of 3,700 billion ROL (118 million dollars), although oil refining operations were still bringing losses for the company.
Petromidia’s preliminary figures for last year were sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange as part of the procedures for listing the company’s stock. Petromidia will be floated tomorrow.
Rompetrol Rafinare broke even due to the conversion of the company’s $600m historical debts to the state budget into bonds. These bonds, maturing in seven years, can be swapped for stock, but Petromidia has already recorded part of them as equity.
“This use of the bond issue is in accordance with IAS (International Accounting Standards). Part of the issue was recorded as debts and the other part was logged as capital. This has led to financial revenues in the balance. The money does not exist, this is merely an accounting operation for which we were advised by a foreign investment bank and by Deloitte & Touche,” Dinu Patriciu, chairman and majority shareholder of Rompetrol group, told Ziarul Financiar.
At the end of last year, Petromidia registered equity worth 560 million dollars, as compared to 262 million dollars in the previous year. According to preliminary results, Petromidia last year posted operating losses of 32 million dollars, three times lower year-on-year.
vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro