MOL Group posts EBITDA of 2.1 billion USD in first nine months

MOL Group today announced its financial results for Q3 2023, down by 33% compared to the same period last year to USD 976mn in Q3 2023. Government takes remain an important driver of the results, amounting to half of clean CCS EBITDA during the first three quarters of 2023, including a new CO2 tax introduced in Hungary retrospectively from 1 January, 2023.

Downstream and Upstream remained under pressure by market conditions, mitigated by strong results delivered by Consumer Services. As a result, clean CCS EBITDA in the period between Q1 and Q3 2023 arrived at USD 2.1bn allowing MOL to raise its full year 2023 clean CCS EBITDA guidance to approximately USD 2.8bn from the previous USD 2.5bn.

Chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi commented the results: “I am proud that we have been able to maintain good performance despite the heavy regulatory environment and market pressures. This quarter we were able to mitigate the effects of negative external conditions with our improving refinery margins and strong consumer demand for our fuel products. We are able to raise our EBITDA guidance as we remain optimistic that our crisis-resilient, integrated business model and efficient operation will counterbalance the volatile market and regulatory conditions. We are also committed to continue our transformation journey as well live up to the elevated expectations with regards to our role in the supply security of Central and Eastern European region.”

Upstream EBITDA in Q3 2023 increased by 97% compared to the previous quarter, reaching USD 195mn, courtesy of a lower windfall tax duty as USD 122mn worth of tax contribution was recognised in Q2. Furthermore, royalty rates in Hungary are set to decrease from 1 September 2023, with a positive impact expected on Q4 2023 results and beyond. Hydrocarbon production in Q3 2023 decreased slightly due to temporary events, arriving at 90.1 mboepd on average during the first three quarters, with the 2023 production guidance remaining at approximately 90 mboepd for 2023.

Downstream Clean CCS EBITDA recovered against the previous quarter due to supporting refinery margins and the impact of lower windfall taxes, amounting to USD 469mn in Q3 2023. Nevertheless, the result represents a 37% decrease compared to the same period last year as a result of higher refinery margins, the narrowing of the Brent-Ural spread and the negative contribution from petchem. Windfall taxation in Central and Eastern European countries continued to hit the segment’s profitability in during the third quarter of 2023 with the freshly introduced CO2 tax in Hungary, while petrochemical market environment remained unfavourable and contributed negatively to CCS EBITDA.

Consumer Services delivered EBITDA amounting to USD 250mn in Q3 2023, a 107% increase compared to the same period last year. Besides easing price cap regulations and supporting fuel margins, the result came predominantly on the back of inorganic effects driven by the expansion of MOL’s networks in Poland and Slovenia, adding almost 400 million litres to sold volumes during the third quarter of 2023.