The Slovnaft group reported a first quarter operating loss of €3.1 million, which is a year-on-year improvement of €10.4 million, according to company spokesman Anton Molnár who attributed the better results to a gradual positive development in the external environment, the SITA newswire wrote.
Sales were €718.5 million in the quarter, up 37 percent or €192 million y-o-y. As the company explained, higher prices of crude oil-based products, especially of petrol, were behind this growth.
The local market reported surging demand for motor fuels, particularly for diesel. Although exports registered lower demand on the Czech, Hungarian and German markets at the beginning of the year, the Director General and Chairman of Slovnaft’s Board of Directors, Oszkar Világi, expects higher sales on these markets in the coming months.
The volume of refined products sold on the local market went up by 13.8 percent to 299 kilotons. Motor fuels improved the most with the volume of diesel sold surging by 18.7 percent due to higher demand by the farming sector, a lower excise tax and a subsequent increase in its sale at petrol stations.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
