UPDATE 1-Czech Unipetrol sees shutdown impact above $38 mln

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PRAGUE, June 28 (Reuters) - Outages planned at Czech downstream oil group Unipetrol this year will bite into the company's results by more than last year's 800 million crowns ($37.61 million), Chief Executive Francois Vleugels said on Thursday.

"This year, they will be longer shutdowns, more complex, but better prepared," he told shareholders at an annual meeting.

"But the impact will be certainly higher than (last year's) 800 million crowns," he said.

He added margins and business environment remained solid in the second quarter after record net profit of 1.56 billion crowns in the first quarter.

The company said in an annual report that excluding the impact of the shutdowns, it expects a year-on-year improvement in operating results.

Unipetrol has said it would shut down its majority-owned refinery Ceska Rafinerska for up to eight weeks in the autumn.

It also plans an up to 6-week ethylene unit shutdown and 4-week outage of the polyolefins unit at subsidiary Chemopetrol, and up to 3-week shutdown at the Paramo refinery.

Vleugels said the company, majority owned by Poland's PKN Orlen , was still looking at options for organic growth and acquisitions after its bid to raise its 51 percent stake in the Ceska Rafinerska refinery failed.

If no expansion opportunities are identified within a year, it would consider returning cash to shareholders through dividends or a buy-back, he said.

"We believe that we still need at least another year before we come to any conclusion whether we will be successful or not," he said.

Unipetrol shares traded 1 percent higher at 1115 GMT at 285.3 crowns, beating the wide PX Prague index.