Polish Gas Company Sees Q3 Lift
Polish state gas firm PGNiG saw better third-quarter and nine-month earnings this year than last, it reported November 21. For Q3 2018 alone, PGNiG reported a 26% rise in revenue to zloty 7.6bn ($2bn), with pre-tax earnings up 36% to zloty 1.47bn, and net profit surging 50% to zloty 0.55bn.
CEO Piotr Wozniak said: "Compared with the same period of the previous year, Q3 2018 was very successful for the PGNiG Group. The high prices of hydrocarbons boosted revenue from oil and gas sales, especially in the Exploration and Production segment. Increases were also recorded in gas volumes sold and revenue earned from its sales by the Trade and Storage segment, and in electricity sales by the generation segment."
Its imports of LNG rose 47%, amounting to 1.96bn m³ after regasification, comprising 18% of total nine-month gas imports, compared with 13% a year earlier. During the third quarter alone, PGNiG received five LNG deliveries with a total volume of 0.63bn m³ after regasification, 35% more than the year before. All the deliveries were made under long-term contracts with Qatargas.
Upstream revenue rose 46% on Q3 2017 to zloty 1.85bn. Revenue from sales of crude oil and condensate came in at zloty 0.6bn, having grown 89% year-on-year owing to higher sales (up 23%) and higher average oil prices for the quarter (up 49% in zloty terms). Crude oil and condensate production from the Norwegian Continental Shelf increased by over 7%, to 118,000 metric tons. The segment’s revenue from natural gas sales reached zloty 1.08bn, up 37%, reflecting higher prices of the fuel.
Revenue from trade and storage was up 29% on Q3 2017 to zloty 5.55bn, led by a 2% increase in the volumes of gas sold (5.50bn m³) and rising gas prices. The higher sales volumes were primarily driven by volumes supplied to PGNiG Supply & Trading’s customers (0.86bn m³, up 91% on Q3 2017), and to power plants and combined heat and power plants (0.53bn m³, up 51%).
The increased supply volumes and rising cost of gas procurement were reflected in a 32% year-on-year increase in the segment’s operating costs, to zloty 6.02bn.
The generation division delivered strong electricity sales figures in the quarter. Sales volumes rose 28% year-on-year to 523 GWh, mainly as a result of a new unit at the Zofiowka combined heat and power plant which started operations. Revenue from electricity sales rose by a strong 58% year-on-year to zloty 0.11bn. On the other hand, heat sales dropped 15%, to 2.94 PJ and revenue from sales of heat slipped 9% year-on-year to zloty 0.13bn. The segment’s performance was also impacted by rising hard coal prices, which led to a 12% increase in operating costs to zloty 0.27bn. However, the rise in costs was slower than the 15% rise in revenue growth compared with Q3 2017, bringing the top-line figure to zloty 0.3bn.