Unipetrol Q3 petchem profit falls 20% year on year to €7.15m

29 October 2010 12:32  [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS)--Unipetrol's third-quarter petrochemical operating profit fell 20% year on year to koruna (Kc) 176m ($9.95m, €7.15m), with the major factor being the strengthening of the dollar against the euro, the Czech petrochemical producer said on Friday.

Petrochemical revenues were up 18% to Kc 7.8bn, although petrochemical sales volumes were down 9% to 421,000 tonnes, it added.

Investment bank Patria Finance said the results were broadly in line with analysts' expectations.

A two-week shutdown of the company's Litvinov ethylene cracker and a 30% decline in agrochemicals, caused by a reduced commitment to producing ammonia, were partly to blame for the decline in volumes, Unipetrol said.

"The most important factors positively influencing the petrochemical segment were year-to-year higher combined petrochemical margins, a better sales volumes mix, with a higher volume of more profitable polyolefins, and the launching of successful initiatives related to the segment’s pricing policies,“ the company said.

Unipetrol's model olefin margin was €302/tonne for the third quarter, compared with €269/tonne in the same period of 2009 and €318/tonne in the second quarter of 2010.

The model polyolefin margin was €313/tonne for the third quarter, against €256/tonne in the same period of 2009 and €279/tonne in the second quarter of this year.

"Improved propylene and ethylene quotations were partly offset by worse benzene quotations,“ the company said.

Across all divisions, Unipetrol reported net income totalling Kc 175m, compared with a net loss of Kc 35m a year ago, thanks to an improvement in retail fuels. Revenue rose 20% to Kc 22.5bn.

Unipetrol is 63%-owned by Poland's PKN Orlen which reported its third-quarter results earlier on Friday.

($1 = Kc17.67, €1 = Kc24.63)

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By: Will Conroy
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