Slovenian energy group Petrol announced that it has lowered its net profit target for the first half of 2022 by 54 million euros due to respective Government’s decision to regulate fuel prices in Slovenia and Croatia.
The statement from the company said that its H1 2022 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) will be 79 million euros lower than expected.
In the second quarter of 2022, the difficult situation on the market and the negative effects of regulation have become even more acute. Namely, as regards sales of motor fuels in Slovenia, the Petrol Group found itself in a situation where the volumes sold exceeded the planned sales due to the significantly lower prices compared to those in the neighboring countries. The company was forced to sell fuel below its cost, generating a loss with each liter of fuel sold, and will not be able to achieve the business results set in its plan for 2022.
Petrol’s operating conditions in Croatia will be made difficult by the price cap on motor fuel prices at filling stations outside motorways adopted by the Croatian government on 20 June for a period of 14 days, as regulated retail prices are not sufficient to cover operating costs.
In late 2021, Petrol said it targets a 158.3 million euros net profit and 5.9 billion euros sales revenues in 2022. The group expected its gross profit to reach 643.9 million euros this year, and EBITDA at 297.8 million euros.
