Romania’s Petrom ’08 Net Pft At RON1B, Dn 43% On Yr

Petrom’s financial performance was affected to a large degree by one-off items, such as provisions for litigations and restructuring, as well as the impairment of Arpechim refinery, Petrom CEO Mariana Gheorghe stated Wednesday.

In the fourth quarter alone, the company registered a RON1.27 billion loss, compared with a RON626 profit in the same period a year earlier due to sharp oil price decline and additional provisions booked.

"For the first time after privatization, EBIT recorded a negative RON1.2 billion, compared to RON332 million in Q4/07," Petrom said. In December 2004, Petrom was privatized and became a part of Austrian oil group OMV AG (OMV.VI), which is the majority shareholder.

Petrom’s full-year turnover rose by 36% to RON16.75 billion, compared with RON12.28 billion in 2007, despite a decrease in the fourth quarter.

In 2008’s last quarter, the company’s turnover was at RON3.74 billion, down 4% compared with the same period of 2007, and 21% lower than in the previous quarter.

Petrom’s full-year EBITDA was of RON3.56 billion in 2008, 15% higher on the year, while the full-year EBIT decreased by 33% to RON1.3 billion.

Petrom invested around RON6.4 billion in 2008, 68% higher on the year.

At the end of the year, the number of Petrom’s employees was at 33,311, 26% more than at the end of 2007. The company recently announced it would cut its workforce by 3,000 persons.

Petrom is listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. On Tuesday, its shares closed at RON0.13, down 8.39% on the day, at a total traded value of RON499,164.