Grupa Lotos had PLN 231m (EUR 65.6m) of net income in the fourth quarter, which is close to the forecasts. Experts don’t like, however, the way this income was generated. Exploration unit was the biggest disappointment. Although the volume of production and transmission was similar to previous quarters, the unit had only PLN 27m of net income despite the fact that oil prices were at record high.
“It’s a paradox that the more expensive oil is, the less Petrobaltic earns on exploring it”, Kamil Kliszcz, DI BRE analyst commented.
Refining unit was also much worse than expected and had only PLN 162m of net income. The group made up thanks to financial operations.
However, the fourth quarter results of PGNiG were announced great news. A week ago the company surprised the market and said it had done giant update write-offs because it was moving the assets within its group. These write-offs cut the net income, but only in books. Without them, PGNiG would have PLN 933m of EBIT and PLN 957m of net income, much more than the highest forecasts said.
Analysts worry about the company’s future, however. In the fourth quarter, the company sold gas from its storages. This year, it will have to buy and sell more of imported gas.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.284)