MOL Q2 income soars as refining margins widen
Hungarian oil and gas company MOLʼs second-quarter net income jumped 161% to HUF 62.7 bln from the same period a year earlier on improved refining margins, an earnings report released Wednesday shows.
Diluted earnings per share came to HUF 640. Cleared of one-off effects, EPS was HUF 661, well over the HUF 566 estimate of analysts polled by Portfolio.hu.
Revenue fell 9% to HUF 1.131 trillion, but cost of raw materials and consumables declined at an even faster rate, dropping 14% to HUF 854.6 bln. Total operating costs were down 15% at HUF 1.021 trillion, lifting operating profit by 238% to HUF 110.8 bln.
MOL chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi said the company had delivered its "best ever quarterly results", adding that MOLʼs management now expects to exceed their clean EBITDA target for 2015 by 10%, reaching approximately USD 2.2 bln, and matching 2014ʼs performance.
EBITDA of MOLʼs downstream business, adjusted for extraordinary effects, increased 378% to HUF 143.2 bln. The performance of the segment was supported by further improved refining margins, mainly driven by widening gasoline crack spreads, "the highest ever" petrochemical margin and seasonal uplift of demand, MOL said. It added that vehicle fuel consumption in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia had grown 5% and approached pre-crisis peaks.
Adjusted EBITDA of MOLʼs upstream business fell 14% to HUF 53.5 bln. Production during the period was "flat", MOL said, as output in Kurdistan and the North Sea offset fewer barrels in Hungary and Croatia.
Adjusted EBITDA of the gas and midstream business fell 30% to HUF 10.3 bln, decreasing mainly because of lower transmitted volumes.
MOL had total assets of HUF 4.789 trillion at the end of June, up 3% from the twelve months earlier. Net assets were also up 3% at HUF 2.297 trillion.
Non-current liabilities fell 10% to HUF 977.3 bln. Within liabilities, long-term debt came to HUF 473.5 bln, down 28%. MOLʼs gearing ratio edged up to 21.4% from 18.4% during the period.
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