November 17 (SeeNews) - Slovenian fuel retailer Petrol [LJE:PETG] said on Friday its consolidated net profit increased 5% to 60.3 million euro ($71.1 million) in the nine months through September.
Consolidated sales revenues jumped 23% to 3.32 billion euro in the January - September period, Petrol said in a bourse filing.
EBITDA totalled 122.5 million euro, an 11% increase compared to the same period of 2016, and was mostly generated by sales of oil products.
"The Petrol Group operates in a competitive environment influenced by oil price fluctuations, US dollar exchange rate, global and domestic economic developments, and national laws governing the pricing of energy products," the company said.
It added that in Slovenia and Croatia, the economic situation is improving, but other countries in Southeast Europe (SEE) which also make up Petrol's sales market still face extremely tough economic conditions, low purchasing power and high unemployment.
In the first nine months of 2017, the Petrol Group sold 2,476.7 thousand tonnes of petroleum products, up 8% on the year.
In Slovenia, the nine-month sales of petroleum products stood at 1,216.9 thousand tonnes, accounting for 49% of Petrol Group's total sales, up 7% on the year.
In the same period, the group's sales of petroleum products in the SEE region increased 2% on the year to 569.1 thousand tonnes, representing 23% of its total sales. In the EU, 690.7 thousand tonnes were sold, equal to 28% of the group's total sales and up 16%.
In the reviewed period, 41% of petroleum product sales were generated in the retail market and 59% in the wholesale market.
In the same period, Petrol sold 113.4 thousand tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, a year-on-year increase of 8%, and 838,000 MWh of natural gas or 1% more than in the same period of the previous year.
In the first nine months of 2017, net investments in property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and long-term investments totalled 43.3 million euro. Out of the total, 22% was allocated to sales in Slovenia, 24% to sales in SEE, 40% to energy and environmental systems, and 14% to the upgrading of information and other infrastructure.
At the end of September, the Petrol Group operated 492 service stations, up 1% on the year - of which 316 in Slovenia, 106 in Croatia, 37 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 in Serbia, 11 in Montenegro and 11 in Kosovo.
($=0.8477 euro)