BUDAPEST: A wider margin lifted Hungarian oil and Gas Company MOLʼs first-quarter operating profit, but net income fell 57% to HUF 9.1 billion as the forint weakened against the dollar, causing financial losses to swell, an earnings report published today reveals.
MOLʼs total operating revenue fell 18% to HUF 930.6 billion, but raw material costs declined at a faster pace, dropping 31% to HUF 482.7 billion. Total operating expenses were down 21% at HUF 866.1 bln, lifting operating profit 39% to HUF 64.6 billion.
MOL booked a HUF 57.3 billion financial loss in Q1 as the forint weakened against the dollar, well over the HUF 20.2 billion loss in the base period. MOLʼs EBITDA, excluding special items and calculated at current cost of supplies, rose 47% to HUF 154.1 billion. The clean CCS-based EBITDA was over the HUF 145.3 billion estimate by analysts polled by Portfolio.hu. Diluted earnings per share came to HUF 68.
With oil prices low, revenue of MOLʼs upstream business fell 32% to HUF 110.4 billion during the period, while operating profit in the segment decline 63% to HUF 21.6 billion. The report shows prices of Brent and Ural, in dollars, were down 50% year-on-year in Q1.
