Slovenian fuel retailer Petrol's 2016 group net profit rises 11 pct (updated)

Petrol dd Ljubljana

17/02/2017 22:48

(Updates with quote, details, background) 
    LJUBLJANA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Slovenia's largest fuel 
retailer Petrol's  PETG.LJ  group net profit was 72.7 million 
euros ($77.12 million) in 2016, up from 65.3 million a year 
before, helped by the Slovenia government lifting some price 
controls on fuels, the company said on Friday. 
    Sales rose by 1 percent to 3.86 billion euros and it 
maintained its December forecast of net profit reaching 74.7 
million euros this year and sales falling to 3.6 billion as cars 
and buildings use less fuel. 
    "As technologies develop, less energy is needed for a bigger 
output: although there are more cars on the road they can now 
travel further on less fuel; thanks to energy efficient 
construction and insulated buildings, less energy is required 
for heating and cooling," Petrol said.  
    At the end of 2016 Petrol operated 487 filling stations in 
Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo, 
unchanged from the end of 2015. The number is expected to rise 
to 493 this year. 
    Last year, Slovenia dropped state controls on the prices of 
gasoline and heating oil, although it kept some gasoline prices 
on local roads under control. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N17A2Z8 
        
 ($1 = 0.9427 euros) 
 
 (Reporting by Marja Novak; Editing by Louise Ireland and Lisa 
Shumaker) 
 ((Marja.Novak@thomsonreuters.com; +386-1-5058805; Reuters 
Messaging: marja.novak.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SLOVENIA PETROL/