Neste Oil's Interim Report for January-September 2009
Stock Exchange Release
Neste Oil Corporation
29 October 2009 at 10.00 am (EET)
Neste Oil's Interim Report for January-September 2009
- Comparable operating profit in Q3 came in at EUR 42 million (Q3/2008: 199 million)
Third quarter in brief:
- Weak refining market continued through the quarter
- Neste Oil’s total refining margin was USD 5.97 /bbl (7-9/08: 13.54)
- Comparable operating profit was EUR 42 million (7-9/08: 199 million)
- IFRS operating profit was EUR 113 million (7-9/08: 44 million)
- Cash flow from operations totaled EUR 162 million (7-9/08: -175 million), driven by reduced working capital
- Capital expenditure totaled EUR 216 million, of which 161 million was allocated to Renewable Fuels
- Announced cost-savings of EUR 60 million are moving ahead as planned
President & CEO Matti Lievonen:
“The market environment for refiners was unchanged and refining margins were even lower during the third quarter than the second quarter, which itself was poor. In July, we expected our third-quarter results to be weaker quarter-on-quarter and that proved to be true in our core refining business. We benefited, however, from lower costs and good profitability at our joint venture Nynas, which enjoyed healthy seasonal demand for bitumen over the summer.
“Looking forward, it’s difficult to see a rapid recovery in refining margins. Demand for diesel fuel, our key product, is driven by industrial output, which has been very weak. The indications are that industrial output has leveled off in Europe, but this has still not been seen on our home markets. In this environment, we will vigorously continue our efforts to enhance internal efficiencies, implement our savings plans and focus on working capital management, in parallel to proceeding with our growth projects in Singapore and Rotterdam.”
Further information:
Matti Lievonen, President & CEO, tel. +358 10 458 11
Ilkka Salonen, CFO, tel. +358 10 458 4490
News conference and conference call
A press conference in Finnish on the third quarter results will be held today, 29 October 2009, at 11:30 am EET at the company’s headquarters, Keilaranta 21, Espoo. www.nesteoil.com will feature English versions of the presentation materials. A conference call in English for investors and analysts will be held today, 29 October 2009, at 3:00 pm Finland / 1:00 pm London / 8:00 am New York. The call-in numbers are as follows: Europe: +44 (0)20 3023 4426, US: +1 866 966 5335. A webcast of the call can be found at company’s website. An instant replay of the call will be available for one week at +44 (0)20 8196 1998 for Europe and +1 866 583 1035 for the US, using access code 725434.