Unipetrol says refinery shutdowns to hurt results

PRAGUE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Czech petrochemical group Unipetrol <UNPEsp.PR> said on Thursday it had shut down main production units at two subsidiaries for unplanned maintenance which looks set to hurt its fourth-quarter financial results.

"There will be a negative impact on the results, but it is impossible to quantify this impact while the shutdowns continue," said company spokeswoman Michaela Lagronova.

Unipetrol, majority owned by Poland's PKN Orlen <PKNA.WA>, said maintainance at the Litvinov refinery of its Ceska Rafinerska subsidiary and at the Chemopetrol unit began on Wednesday and would run until Oct. 20.

"The technical shutdowns will decrease production of fuels, other refinery products and also products based on ethylene and propylene of the companies," Unipetrol said in a statement.

"However due to the earlier accumulated supplies of raw materials in the companies, the negative impact on the execution of business obligations towards customers will be minimised," the company added.

Unipetrol shares traded 1.50 percent lower at 197.20 crowns by 0905 GMT, underperforming the Prague bourse's main PX index <.PX> which gained 0.6 percent. ((Reporting by Marek Petrus, editing by Quentin Bryar; Reuters Messaging: rm://marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com or marek.petrus@reuters.com; Tel: +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: CHEMICALS CZECH UNIPETROL