Page 14 - EurOil Week 32

EurOil PERFORMANCE EurOil

Hungarian oil giant MOL

extends losses in Q2

HUNGARY MOL booked a HUF41.5bn (€119mn) loss in quarter in the April-June period to 117.3mn bar-
Q2 after making a HUF78bn profit in the base rels per day (bpd), as the contribution of ACG
MOL reported period as oil prices plunged to record lows and more than offset lower volumes in the UK and
challenges and fuel sales plummeted due to the coronavirus Pakistan. The transaction has lifted the net debt/
difficulties in all (COVID-19) pandemic, the Hungarian oil and Ebitdta to 1.63x and gearing to 29%.
segments due to the gas company said on August 7. MOL confirmed MOL made a gas and condensate discovery
pandemic. its Capex guidance for the year and expects $1.7- in the TAL Block in Pakistan during the quarter.
1.9bn in Ebitda. Among other operational highlights, the flag-
Revenue fell 40% to HUF813bn fuel sales ship €1.2bn polyol project reached 65% overall
and crude prices reached record lows during the completion at the end of Q2.
lockdown. The cost of raw material and consum- The company said that its transformational
ables fell at an even steeper rate, declining 48% to projects that are part of its 2030 strategy “are
HUF561bn, but total operating costs were down clearly prioritised and have been going ahead
just 35% at HUF821bn. at full steam, as far as the mobility restrictions
MOL reported challenges and difficulties allowed”. While the strategic directions remain
in all segments due to the pandemic. Clean intact, the current circumstances do necessitate a
CCS Ebitda declined by 44% in Q2 to $353mn, rethinking of priorities, resetting of the financial
bringing H1 Clean CCS Ebitda to $975mn,15% framework and updating the long-term strategic
lower year on year. Upstream Ebitda declined to and short to mid-term tactical and financial tar-
$112mn in Q2, affected by collapsing oil and gas gets,” MOL said.
prices. All segments generated positive simplified
Downstream Clean CCS Ebitda also fell free cash-flow (FCF) in H1 as investments were
materially to $110mn in Q2, as refinery margins cut back. The company unveiled new Ebitda
turned negative from mid-May. Consumer Ser- guidance of $1.7-1.9bn, reflecting challenging
vices Ebitda fell 6% y/y to $111mn but was flat in trading conditions, which are likely to prevail in
local currency terms as cost savings almost fully the second half. MOL’s Capex guidance of up to
offset the pandemic-related fallout of fuel and $1.5bn was confirmed.
non-fuel margins. “MOL faced unprecedented challenges in
The Hungarian oil company closed a $1.5bn the second quarter of 2020, from significant
deal in April to acquire stakes in an Azeri oil field health and safety risks stemming from the pan-
(ACG), one of the largest in the world, and a demic, to major operational issues in running
pipeline that delivers crude from the field, lifting our plants during the lockdown, whilst making
its net debt to HUF 987bn and its gearing ratio sure we preserved our financial strength” chair-
to 29%. man-CEO Zsolt Hernadi said pointing out the
Oil production increased by 6% quarter on positive simplified FCF in Q2. ™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 32 12•August•2020