Orlen third-quarter profit jumps but forecasts miss as windfall tax looms
Orlen third-quarter profit jumps but forecasts miss as windfall tax looms Nov 5 (Reuters) - Poland's largest energy group Orlen PKN.WA reported a rise in third-quarter adjusted core profit on Thursday, as the Iran war and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries squeezed global fuel supply and nearly quadrupled its benchmark refining margin, though earnings missed forecasts.
Part of those gains will go to a new Polish windfall tax, which Orlen said it would book in the fourth quarter. It estimated its liability for March to September at about 2.4 billion zlotys ($616 million), against 2.0 billion it had estimated in October for March to August.
• Core profit adjusted for oil inventory values and impairments, or EBITDA LIFO, rose 66% year-on-year to 14.78 billion zlotys, below 15.2 billion zlotys expected in a company-compiled consensus
• Net profit rose 161% to 5.58 billion zlotys, below 7.3 billion zlotys expected in the company-compiled consensus
• Adjusted EBITDA LIFO at Orlen's downstream segment, which covers refining and petrochemicals, nearly tripled to 6.28 billion zlotys but missed the 7.40 billion zloty forecast
• Orlen booked 1.81 billion zlotys of net impairments, above the 1.6 billion it flagged in October, mainly on petrochemical assets and its renewables business
• Poland's windfall tax, aimed at war-driven gains, takes 60% of fuel profits above 120% of 2025 margins from March 2026 to March 2027
($1 = 3.8937 zlotys)
(Reporting by Rafal Nowak; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
((RafalWojciech.Nowak@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 66 63;))
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