Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) reported a 61% decrease in net profit to 5.3 billion dinars for the second quarter, primarily due to the overhaul of the Pancevo refinery and poor performance by Petrohemija, as announced today by Momentum Securities.
Despite these setbacks, NIS experienced a relatively favorable business environment in the first half of the year. The dinar-to-dollar exchange rate remained stable, the average price of Brent crude oil increased by 5%, and the motor fuel market grew by 4.5%.
“Company revenue increased by 6% to 198.4 billion dinars in the first six months, with a 23% growth rate in the second quarter,” reported Momentum.
However, NIS’s key profitability indicator, EBITDA, fell by 20% in the first half of the year, amounting to 22.8 billion dinars.
On a non-consolidated basis, which determines dividend payouts to shareholders, the semi-annual profit was 9.9 billion dinars, a decrease of approximately 36%.
Operationally, the processing volume decreased by 29% due to the refinery’s operational halt, and turnover volume dropped by 12%.
Capital investments more than doubled in the first six months, reaching 24.4 billion dinars, primarily allocated to exploration, production, and processing segments.
After several quarters of debt reduction, NIS’s debt to banks increased to 580 million euros from 564 million euros at the start of the year.
NIS shares have been trading around 800 dinars since the record date for this year’s dividend payout of 64.3 dinars per share. Management has announced that the dividend will be paid out by the end of August.
