The Supervisory Board discusses the business results in January–September 2024
Ljubljana, 14 November 2024 - At its 58th meeting, the Supervisory Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana discussed the Report on the Operations of the Petrol Group and Petrol d.d., Ljubljana in January–September 2024. In the period concerned, the operations were still marked by the petroleum product price regulation and geopolitical uncertainty. Nevertheless, the Company and the Group maintained business stability and generated good results.
On publication of the results, Sašo Berger, President of the Management Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana, said: “Despite the challenging situation, the Petrol Group achieved good results in the first nine months of 2024, which reflect our ability to adapt and our sound and prudent business practices. The current regulatory framework in Slovenia still does not enable us to cover all operating costs and as such, it does not provide for conditions for long-term growth, especially given the increasing environmental demands that we need to finance from the petroleum product sales activity. Despite the limitations in this segment, the results of other segments, including the energy transition, confirm that our business diversification strategy is successful.”
In the first nine months of 2024, the Petrol Group operated as planned even though the sales of petroleum products in Slovenia, regardless of the margin increase in July, have remained a big financial challenge due to the capped prices of petroleum products. Regulation is also imposed on other markets where the Petrol Group is present, but it is much less restrictive.
In the first nine months of 2024, the Petrol Group generated revenue of EUR 4.5 billion. The volumes of fuels sold increased. Other volumetric data relating to visits of our service stations show positive trends. Gross profit including closed commodity derivatives amounted to EUR 556.6 million, a year-on-year increase of three percent. In the period concerned, EBITDA was EUR 242.0 million, up by 20 percent compared to the same period last year, especially on account of the good results in the segment of merchandise and services and prudence in the field of cost efficiency.
Analysis of results by segments
In the first nine months of 2024, the Petrol Group sold 2,889.3 thousand tons of fuels and petroleum products, an increase of one percent compared to the same period last year, the key growth factor being the increased sales on SEE markets where Petrol has been increasing its presence and sales activities. On the Slovenian market, sales were stable in the period concerned, but under pressure due to price regulation. A minor drop in sales to EU markets is a result of last year’s extraordinary sales due to the shortage of petroleum products due to the embargo on Russian imports.
In the merchandise and services segment, Petrol generated revenue of EUR 484.2 million in the first nine months of 2024, an increase of 13 percent year-on-year. Revenue in this segment is a result of the adaptation of service stations to new trends and customer habits and the extended range of products, which now includes freshly prepared food, and other services for customers on the go.
The number of EV charging stations increased to 555. Petrol’s vision is to become the leading partner in the Adriatic region in the field of the e-mobility infrastructure. In the period concerned, Petrol sold 14.6 TWh of natural gas and 8.4 TWh of electricity. A slight negative trend was recorded in the B2B sales segment due to the deteriorated macroeconomic situation, but the number of Petrol’s household customers in the field of electricity and natural nevertheless increased.
Cost and risk management
In the light of the continuous market fluctuations, geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory pressures, the Petrol Group focused even more on the cost discipline in the period between January and September 2024. Measures in the field of cost rationalisation have stayed an important factor of the Group’s competitiveness. While labour costs increased the most, the Group’s costs, overall, decreased by 7.6 percent in the period concerned if compared to last year, which was also significantly influenced by the lower prices of energy commodities. Additionally, the Group managed to stabilise operations and manage price fluctuation related risks with currency, interest, commodity and market position hedging risk policies.
CapEx and the issue of low margins
In the business plan for 2024, Petrol’s projected CapEx of EUR 130 million for 2024, of which 44 percent in the energy transition projects. Due to the challenge arising from the too low margins, we were forced to adapt or limit the investments to the most urgent ones. We earmarked EUR 41.7 million for investments. In the last quarter of the year, we plan to step up our investment activities.
The capped margins in Slovenia are too low to enable adequate financing of the additional legally binding steps in the energy transition, such as biofuel blending costs, CO2 tax and costs related to ensuring savings for final customers; therefore, Petrol calls for adjusting the regulatory framework.
Expectations for the rest of the year
Our endeavours to achieve the set goals while complying with the regulatory limitations point to our ability to be innovative and flexible in a dynamic environment. Assuming that the regulatory framework does not change, we estimate that the Petrol Group will achieve the planned business results.
Supervisory Board’s opinion
The Supervisory Board believes that the Management Board of Petrol d.d., Ljubljana efficiently implemented the business strategy in the first nine months of 2024 and successfully adapted to market challenges. Given the market limitations, the Group generated stable results and demonstrated its commitment to the sustainable growth and energy transition. The Supervisory Board welcomes the continuation of investments in energy transition projects and will continue to keep a close eye on the implementation of the business strategy which ensures a responsible approach to the market and the key participants.
At the meeting, the Supervisory Board reappointed Jože Smolič as a Member of the Management Board for a new 5-year term of office, starting on 28 August 2025.