MOL sees strong earnings in H2

Hungary's MOL group believes it can repeat strong first-half earnings in the second half of the year, although the chances of the global economy falling into another, milder recession have grown, which could affect results, CFO József Simola said on Tuesday, after the company published its Q2 report.

If external factors remain unchanged for the most part in the coming months, MOL can maintain its strong earnings for the rest of the year, excluding one-off factors, Simola said.

MOL expects the forint to remain little changed against the dollar and the euro, and it sees crude prices remaining in the $100 to $110 per barrel range. MOL's upstream output is set to stay at the 145,000-150,000 a day level, well over earlier levels.

Simola said MOL targeted CAPEX of HUF 370 billion in its 2011 business plan but the amount is likely to be 10-15% under the target considering the company spent just HUF 94 billion on investments and developments in the first half.

MOL’s net income reached HUF 54.0 billion in the second quarter, lifted by growing output of its upstream segment and higher crude prices from a HUF 43.2 billion loss in the same period a year earlier, when the bottom line was hit by a big financial loss, the company said in its consolidated IFRS report on Tuesday.