Unipetrol profits jump after cracker restarted, impairment reversed
PRAGUE (Reuters) -- Czech oil refiner Unipetrol's fourth-quarter net profit jumped to 4.17 billion crowns ($166.15 million) after the restart of some facilities and the reversal of an impairment allowance, the company said on Thursday.
The net profit was above the average estimate of 2.71 billion crowns in a Reuters poll, helped by Unipetrol reversing the impairment of 1.9 billion crowns for downstream assets.
The company had posted a 182 million crown quarterly profit the previous year after a blast at a steam cracker knocked the unit out of service in 2015. It came back online last quarter after more than a year-long shutdown.
With production back at full strength, revenue in the fourth quarter increased 15 percent to 26.47 billion crowns while operating profit (EBIT) surged to 5.13 billion crowns.
The company, majority owned by Poland's PKN Orlen, said it had booked 7.9 billion crowns in its 2016 financial statements related to the steam cracker's insurance claim.
It said the final amount would depend on an insurer agreement but it expected to recover in total 3.9 billion crowns for repairs and 10.1 billion crowns for lost profit.
Unipetrol also expected to receive 1.2 billion crowns in an insurance claim for an accident at a different cracking unit that put it out of service between May and October last year.
Unipetrol is also benefiting from stronger refining and petrochemical margins. The company, even with shutdowns last year, posted record full-year net profit of 7.98 billion crowns. It ended 2016 with net cash of 2.8 billion crowns.
The company paid its first dividend in eight years from 2015 profits and has said it wants to make shareholder payouts in the future but was unsure about a 2016 payment.
Reporting by Jason Hovet and Petra Vodstrcilova; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath and Jane Merriman
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