Hungarian MOL Sees Q3 Surge

Hungarian integrated energy company MOL reported its best quarter's trading for three years as it enjoyed the higher priced oil market. Reporting its results October 31, it said that the upstream delivered $319mn pre-tax profits (Ebitda), up by 70% year-on-year on the back of rising oil and gas prices.

Net profit was $323mn in Q3, bringing the total to $835mn for the first nine months of the year.

The average daily hydrocarbon production was marginally lower in Q3 and stood at 108,300 barrels of oil equivalent (boe)/day, as rising production in the Catcher area in the UK mostly offset the impact of the usual annual turnarounds. And downstream, much weaker refining margins were mostly offset by higher throughput and better sales margins, resulting in a small drop.

The gas midstream segment reached pre-tax earnings of $25mn, lower than a year ago thanksto lower volumes and rising energy cost.

CEO Zsolt Hernadi said the "very strong" results allowed MOL to "comfortably meet or beat" its upgraded clean current cost of supplies pre tax profit guidance of $2.4bn for the year. That figure had been raised from about $2.2bn in July, following better than expected first-half results. "We increased our Ebitda and free cash flow by more than 20% in Q3, as upstream capitalised on higher oil prices and became the largest cash contributor," he said.