153m euro EBIT for Petrom in 2006

Petrom’s EBIT in 2006 will reach 153 million euros, six times higher than in 2003, the analysts of Austrian Raiffeisen Bank say in a report published this month. They estimate Petrom’s 2004 financial statement yet unreleased by the company will show an EBIT of 95 million euros, compared with the 26 million euros in 2003. The company saw its net profit double for the first nine months of the year, to 55.6 million euros. The increase in results occurred amid a rise in Petrom’s fuel prices, as well as in the other petroleum companies’ prices in the last few months in response to the high quotes of crude oil on the international markets. On the other hand, the natural gas portfolio of the petroleum company became profitable in 2004, following the significant increase in prices on the Romanian market. Petrom’s exploration and production division will post a 420 million-euro EBIT in 2004, Raiffeisen analysts believe, which is half of OMV’s similar EBIT. This is, however, diminished by the big losses of the refining, transport and retail operations of the company. ZF