The biggest company in Romania posted a 2.5 timeshigher net profit in the second year of recession than in 2009,thanks to fuel becoming more expensive, although fuel demand fell5%.
OMV Petrom (SNP), the only local producer of oil and gas controlledby Austrian petroleum group OMV, reported 18.6 billion lei (4.4billion euros) in sales last year, up 16% against 2009, with thebiggest leap being recorded by the company's net profit, whichreached around 2.2 billion lei (521 million euros), 163% more thanin the previous year.
Petrom results come at a time when Romania has ended its secondconsecutive year of recession. Moreover, domestic demand of fuelslipped 5% amid the decline in purchasing power because of thesalary cuts and the redundancies, with the company's hydrocarbonproduction falling 2%.
However, the difference was made by the fact that fuel became moreexpensive amid an increase in international prices and amid thecompany's cost-cutting measures, the most important of which wasthe closure of the Arpechim refinery.
Petrom says the price of petrol went up 20% last year, while thatof diesel oil surged 24%.
"The company's results had to do with two main elements. Firstlythey were linked to the fundamental data of the market, a higheroil price and secondly with the company's ability to respond to thehighest level of challenges. This year we can say we havecapitalised on five years of modernising. The fact that weresponded to the crisis by taking tough measures has brought aboutthese good results," said Mariana Gheorghe, the company'sCEO.
Despite the wave of protests that the company's pump price policycaused, Mariana Gheorghe added that prices would continue to rise,especially as a result of the increase in the price of the oilbarrel in the wake of conflicts in northern Africa.
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