April 30 (SeeNews) - Serbia's oil and gas group NIS [BEL:NIIS] has said its net profit fell to 3.7 billion dinars ($38 million/31.3 million euro) in the first quarter of 2018 from 5.4 billion dinars in the like period of last year.
The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of NIS declined to 8.9 billion dinars in the first quarter from 11.1 billion dinars, while liabilities in terms of taxes and other public revenues increased by 8 billion dinars on the year to 43.2 billion dinars, the company said in a statement on Friday.
NIS invested 7.8 billion dinars in the first three months of 2018, up 68%, mainly in the segment of oil and gas exploration and production and further modernisation of the Pancevo Oil Refinery, the Serbian group said.
Oil and gas production amounted to 329,000 tonnes of oil equivalent, down from 343,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2017, and 786,000 tonnes of crude oil and semi-finished product were processed, an increase of 3%.
Petroleum product sales volume increased by 7% to 765,000 tonnes, while power output declined to 43,613 MWh from 46,076 MWh, NIS said.
"We will work to improve our operational efficiency, and we will also make significant steps this year in terms of digitalisation of NIS business operation at all levels. By achieving these goals, we will be able to respond effectively to the complex challenges of the modern market," the CEO of NIS, Kirill Tyurdenev, said in the statement.
Last month, NIS said its net profit rose 80% to 27 billion dinars in 2017.
NIS, 56.15%-owned by Gazprom, is one of the largest vertically integrated oil and gas companies in Southeast Europe. Its main activities include the exploration, production and processing of oil and gas, as well as the production and retail trade with a wide range of petroleum products. Serbia's government owns a 29.87% stake in NIS.
(1 euro = 118.015 dinars)
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