July 29 (SeeNews) - Serbian oil and gas group NIS [BEL:NIIS] recorded a net profit of 3.2 billion dinars ($30.2 million/27.2 million euro) in the first half of 2019, sharply down from 11.5 billion dinars in the like period of last year, the company said on Monday.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to 15.9 billion dinars, down from 24 billion dinars, while liabilities in terms of taxes and other public revenues fell to 79.8 billion dinars from 90.9 billion dinars, the company said in a statement.
NIS invested 18.4 billion dinars in the first six months of 2019, up 7%, mainly in exploration and production, as well as in the modernisation of processing capacities, specifically the construction of deep-processing facilities with delayed coking technology in the Pancevo Oil Refinery, the Serbian group said.
Oil and gas production amounted to 641,000 tonnes of oil equivalent, down from 661,000 tonnes in the first half of 2018, and 1.2 million tonnes of crude oil and semi-finished product were processed, NIS noted.
Retail sales in Serbia increased by 5% on the year.
"The successful implementation of strategic projects and the continuation of modernisation are our priorities this year. In this way, we put firm foundations for the further development of NIS in the conditions of fierce competition in the regional market. At the same time, we will remain committed to further improvement of financial results and operational indicators in all business segments," the CEO of NIS, Kirill Tyurdenev, said in the statement.
"In addition, our irrevocable priorities remain safety at work and improvement of environmental protection, as the basis for sustainable development for NIS and our concern for the people and the community in which we operate," he added.
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 = 117.718 dinars)
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