Illustrative photo – Fuel prices at the Orlen gas station in Bogatyn, Poland, near Hrádek nad Nisou in Liberecko.
Plock/Prague – The Polish petrochemical group Orlen, which owns Unipetrol in the Czech Republic, almost doubled its net profit to 8.1 billion zlotys (roughly 40 billion CZK) in the fourth quarter of last year. Orlen made the announcement in a press release today. For the whole year, the profit also almost doubled, to 21.4 billion zlotys (roughly 107 billion CZK).
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In addition, the results exclude an extraordinary gain of 8.2 billion zlotys associated with the acquisition of gas company PGNiG in the fourth quarter, and an extraordinary gain of 5.8 billion zlotys associated with the acquisition of oil company Lotos in the third quarter.
Orlen Group sales rose to 102.3 billion zlotys in the fourth quarter from 40.9 billion a year earlier. In the whole of last year, sales rose to 278.5 billion zlotys from 131.3 billion the year before. The takeover of PGNiG and Lotos contributed to their growth.
The Orlen Group also includes Orlen Unipetrol, which is the largest refining and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. Orlen Unipetrol focuses on oil processing as well as the production, distribution and sale of fuel and petrochemical products, especially plastics and fertilizers. It includes the network of Benzina Orlen gas stations.
The company Orlen Unipetrol announced today that last year it increased its net profit to more than five times, i.e. to 17.9 billion crowns. The company's sales also increased significantly, by more than 36 percent year-on-year to 209.5 billion crowns.
Last year, Orlen Unipetrol increased its profit more than fivefold to 17.9 billion crowns
Refinery and petrochemical group Orlen Unipetrol increased its net profit more than fivefold last year to 17.9 billion crowns. This is an increase of 14.7 billion crowns year-on-year. The company's sales also rose significantly, by more than 36 percent year-on-year to 209.5 billion crowns. According to the company, investments from previous years were reflected in the management, among other things. It continued with them last year, when it spent 9.2 billion crowns. ČTK was informed about this today by Orlen Unipetrol.
“Economic results were positively influenced by our investments from the past years. Over the past five years, we have invested 50 billion crowns. We were able to maintain a high level of investment even in the difficult covid years, when we fell into a loss of six billion crowns in 2020. Now we are harvesting the fruit of this effort and at the same time our financial results were supported by the positive macroeconomic situation in the refining segment,” said CEO of Orlen Unipetrol Group Tomasz Wiatrak.
The group processed 7.5 million tons of oil last year. Sales of refining products reached 6.1 million tons and sales of petrochemical products reached the level of two million tons. According to the company, the total investments amounted to 9.2 billion crowns and were aimed at the continued modernization of production technologies in both refineries, the revitalization of the partial hydrogen oxidation unit, the construction of a new unit for the production of liquid hydrocarbon DCPD, the construction of the 11th cracking furnace of the ethylene unit and the development of a retail network of gas stations in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. While building recycling capacity, the group also invested in Remaq, which it incorporated into its group. The group thus expects that in 2030 up to a fifth of its petrochemical production will be made from recycled materials.
In retail, the group continued to invest in the modernization and development of its network of Orlen Benzina gas stations, which is the largest chain in the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic, the group operates 431 stations. The Stop Cafe refreshment concept is available at 334 of them. The group is also working on expanding the infrastructure for electromobility. At the end of 2022, it operated electric charging stations at 55 gas stations. Last year, the group also expanded its activities in Slovakia, where it now has 51 gas stations, and especially in Hungary, where, thanks to acquisitions at the end of last year, it had 79 gas stations.
The Orlen Unipetrol Group is the largest refining and petrochemical company in Czechia. It focuses on oil processing and the production, distribution and sale of fuel and petrochemical products, especially plastics and fertilizers. In all these areas, it belongs to the important players on the Czech and Central European markets. The Orlen Unipetrol group includes refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, the Paramo company in Pardubice, the Spolana company in Neratovice, the Otrokovice company Remaq and two research centers in Litvínov and Brno. Orlen Unipetrol employs almost 6,000 people. Orlen Unipetrol belongs to the group of companies on which the government imposed the so-called windfall tax, i.e. a tax on extraordinary profits. The company will deduct it from this year's profit, the tax does not yet apply to last year.
