Neste tops core profit expectations as fuel prices soar (updated)

Neste Oyj

29/04/2026 07:16

Adds share reaction in paragraph 3, analyst comment in paragraph 8, further CEO comments in paragraphs 12-13.

April 29 (Reuters) - Finnish biofuel maker and oil refiner Neste NESTE.HE reported a better-than-expected core profit for the first quarter on Wednesday, citing soaring fuel prices due to the war in the Middle East, though it kept its full-year forecast unchanged.

Neste said its adjusted operating profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) more than tripled to 861 million euros ($1 billion) in the quarter. That beat the 756 million euros expected by analysts on average in a company-provided poll.

Neste shares rose 5% by 1000 GMT. They have grown 50% in value since the beginning of the year.

"We have benefited from the fact that we source crude oil mostly from the North Sea and the renewable feedstock supply chain is highly diversified," Neste CEO Heikki Malinen said in a statement.

Neither Neste's crude oil nor feedstock used in renewable fuels is transported through the Strait of Hormuz, Malinen added.

VOLUMES LITTLE CHANGED

Demand for renewable fuels has spiked globally as Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz caused supply shortages and sent prices of fossil fuels sharply higher.

However, Neste still expects the sales volumes of its renewable fuels in 2026 to be largely in line with those booked last year.

"The overriding trend is higher-than-consensus margins more than mitigating lower volumes," J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note to clients.

Sales margin in Neste's renewables segment soared 276% to $856 per metric ton in the first quarter, against $725 per ton expected by analysts on average.

Sales volumes in the business slipped 2% to 874,000 tons. That included 69,000 tons of sold sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), down from 130,000 a year ago.

European airlines have been pointing to the scarcity of SAF and calling for changes in the EU rules that mandate them to use it.

"There is this tug-of-war between the regulators, the need to reduce the CO2 emissions, and the question about the cost of SAF for airlines," Malinen told Reuters.

"This debate has not changed and it will probably remain for some time."

($1 = 0.8546 euros)

(Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

((boleslaw.lasocki@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 66 00;))