​• Very strong financial results in 2015, despite the steam cracker accident
• Operational profit EBITDA LIFO on the level of CZK 10.879 bn
• Revenues reached CZK 108.907 bn
• Very good refining utilization ratio of 84%, 6,496 kt of crude oil processed
• In 2015 Unipetrol completed acquisition of Eni stake in Ceska rafinerska,  launched project of new polyethylene unit (PE3) and concluded agreement with OMV increasing its retail market share

In Q4 of 2015 the company Unipetrol recorded operational profit (EBITDA LIFO) of CZK 807m and net profit of CZK 182m. The financial results of the company were affected by the limited production capacity of Litvinov refinery and in particular by the significant decline in petrochemical production and sales volumes of petrochemical products due to steam cracker extraordinary situation from 13 August 2015. On the other hand higher petrochemical and refining margins y/y, higher sales volumes of refinery products or internal initiatives in the area of Operational Excellence improved financial results in Q4. At the end of 2015 the company recorded very strong net cash position of CZK 5.86 bn.

„In 2015, the company Unipetrol reached very high operating profit of almost 11 billion Czech crowns. We succeeded to prosper from the favourable macro environment, especially in form of very good refining as well as petrochemical margins and also managed to increase sales of refining products after the completion of stake acquisition in Česká rafinérská," says the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Unipetrol Marek Świtajewski. "Through internal initiatives in the area of Operational Excellence that belong to the basic pillars of our medium-term strategy, we improved the operating profit in 2015 by 1.7 billion Czech crowns," adds Marek Świtajewski. 

In the downstream segment that combines refinery and petrochemical parts, the company recorded EBITDA LIFO of CZK 553 m in 4Q15. Segment results were positively affected by very good refining and petrochemical margins however realized only to limited extent due to lower capacity utilization resulting from steam cracker accident, higher sales volumes of refinery products, the higher Brent-Ural differential and positive FX development. Annual decline in sales volumes of petrochemical products due to steam cracker accident, higher fixed costs in Ceska rafinerska (after taking over the stake from Eni), additional costs associated with steam cracker recovery,the effect of inventory revaluation due to the decline in crude oil prices and lower refining and petrochemical sales margins had negative influence on the segment results.

In the refinery part of the downstream segment, the volume of crude oil processed in Q4 reached 1,568 kt, which represents 20% growth y/y, thanks to higher refining capacity after completion of acquisition of ENI stake in Česká rafinérská on April. The sales of refinery products increased by 53% y/y to 1.609 mt. Due to steam cracker accident refining utilization ratio declined in Q4 to 72%.

The results of petrochemical part of downstream segment were significantly affected by the extraordinary event at the steam cracker unit. The sales volumes of petrochemical products decreased to 225 kt (-49% y/y). The company continued to operate the production of polymers – polyethylene and polypropylene – despite the limited availability of external and internal feedstock supplies of ethylene and propylene that are under normal circumstances produced mainly at the ethylene unit in the Litvínov plant.

The retail segment recorded very good level of operational profit EBITDA LIFO of CZK 288 m in 4Q15. The result was positively affected by higher fuel sales supported by set of company´s activities implemented in sales and marketing, standards increase, lower price level on the market driven by decrease of crude oil prices and by positive GDP dynamics. The company achieved better sales results also in the area of non-fuel segment, particularly in shops and refreshment segment. Lower fuel margins y/y had negative impact on the results of the retail segment. The company Benzina increased its market share to 15.8% (the data from the end of October 2015).

The operating results for 2015 were significantly influenced by the extraordinary event at the steam cracker unit from August 13, 2015. Unipetrol is insured against both property & mechanical damages and business interruption. The Group expects that, based on the insurance policies and the estimates made at the end of 2015, it should be in a position to recover repair costs estimated at approximately CZK 4.1 billion, as well as recoverable lost business profits estimated at CZK 2.4 billion and other operating cost incurred in connection with the fire amounting to approximately CZK156 million. The restart of partial operation of the steam cracker unit (at the level of 65%) as well as related petrochemical production and an increase of the refinery utilization ratio of the Litvínov refinery should be realized in July 2016. The standard operation of the ethylene unit at maximum capacity utilization is estimated in October 2016.