Slovenian Petrol says H1 net up by 27 pct despite lower sales (updated)

Petrol dd Ljubljana

26/08/2016 07:52

* Group sales down by 6 pct 
    * Sales of liquefied gas up by 86 pct 
 
 (Updates with quote, details, background) 
    LJUBLJANA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Slovenia's largest fuel 
retailer Petrol  PETG.LJ  reported group net profit of 32 
million euros for the first half of 2016 versus 25.3 million a 
year earlier helped mainly by lower business costs. 
    Net sales fell by 6 percent to 1.7 billion euros, the 
company said in a statement on Friday, hurt by crude oil prices 
down more than 30 percent from a year earlier. 
    Sales of liquefied petroleum gas soared by 86 percent while 
sales of electricity increased by 18 percent. 
    "In the first half of 2016 Petrol sold 1.5 million tons of 
oil products which is 14 percent more than in the first half of 
2015," it said. 
    "The company will continue with its active sales policy, 
optimisation of all business processes and efficient risk 
management," the statement said. 
    Petrol operates 484 filling stations in Slovenia, Croatia, 
Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo. 
 
 (Reporting by Marja Novak; editing by Jason Neely) 
 ((Marja.Novak@thomsonreuters.com; +386-1-5058805; Reuters 
Messaging: marja.novak.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SLOVENIA PETROL/