Romania’s oil and gas company OMV Petrom recorded a net profit of RON 3.63 bln (EUR 0.78 bln) in 2019, down by 11% compared to 2018, despite a 13% increase in sales, to RON 25.5 bln (EUR 5.48 bln), the group announced on Thursday, February 6.

In the fourth quarter, the net profit plunged by 38% year-on-year, to RON 1.4 billion (EUR 0.30 billion), despite rather robust 14% rise in sales to RON 6.41 bln (EUR 1.38 bln).

The fourth quarter and full year net results were dragged down by special items (RON 370 mln for the whole year), mainly related to future estimated soil remediation costs at the Arpechim refinery, booked in Q3 19, and an impairment of assets held for sale in Upstream, booked in Q4 19.

The company recently announced the sale of 40 onshore oil and gas fields in Romania to Dacian Petroleum and is also looking to sell its operations in Kazakhstan.

Despite the lower profit, OMV Petrom's board of directors proposes a gross dividend of RON 0.031 per share for the financial year 2019, 15% higher than in 2018, which corresponds to a yield of 7.3% calculated for the market price of the company’s shares on Wednesday, February 5. OMV Petrom’s shares gained 1.5% on Thursday, after the financial results and the dividend proposal were made public.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Flickr/OMV Petrom)