April 27 (SeeNews) - Croatian oil and gas company INA [ZSE:INA-R-A] said on Thursday it posted a consolidated net profit of 196 million kuna ($28.6 million/26.2 million euro) in the first quarter of 2017, compared to a net loss of 66 million kuna in the like period a year earlier.
"The external environment, mainly in the form of recovering Brent prices, was the main driver behind the positive change in earnings. Constant efficiency efforts and continuous adjustments to operations given the market dynamics further contributed to the positive results", INA said in a Zagreb bourse filing.
Consequently, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation [EBITDA] excluding special items, jumped 125% on the year to 607 million kuna, while net sales revenue expanded 48% to 3.8 billion kuna.
Capital investments amounted to 209 million kuna, a decrease of 39% compared to Q1 2016. However, a more intensive investment campaign is expected in the second half of 2017.
INA has exploration and production operations in Croatia, Africa and the Middle East and operates a filling station network in its home market and in neighboring countries. Hungary's MOL owns 49.08% of INA and the Croatian government controls a further 44.84%.
(1 euro=7.46674 Croatian kuna)