(Adds details, quotes, share price)
By Jan Korselt
PRAGUE, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Czech Unipetrol <>
expects an operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2007 due to
prolonged shutdowns at key petrochemical and refinery units,
Chief Financial Officer Wojciech Ostrowski said on Wednesday.
Ostrowski told Reuters in an interview that the company
could raise debt by 12 billion crowns ($682.6 million) to reach
its targeted capital structure.
He said the cash could be used for acquisitions, investment
into organic growth or dividends but that he saw no big takeover
targets in the region and there had been no decision taken yet.
The costs of the shutdowns, which ran from September 2007
well into the fourth quarter, will be "much" worse than its
earlier reported 2.5 billion crowns ($142.2 million), Ostrowski
said, without giving a specific estimate.
"The fourth quarter was very, very bad. From the perspective
of EBIT, the fourth quarter will be negative," he said.
He expected an improvement in operating results in 2008,
despite slightly lower margins in both petrochemical and
refinery segments, helped by stable demand and improved
production efficiency.
Unipetrol shut down key refinery and petrochemical plants in
the northern-Czech town of Litvinov in September for
modernisation, but the outages ran far beyond plan due to an
accident.
For the first nine months of 2007, Unipetrol booked an
operating profit (EBIT) of 5.5 billion crowns, 21 percent higher
year on year, including one-off costs of 1.2 billion crowns
related to the part of the shutdown that took place in the third
quarter.
NO MAJOR ACQUISITIONS
Ostrowski said the company, majority owned by Polish oil
group PKN Orlen <PKNA.WA>, targets debt to equity ratio of
around 30 percent after it paid almost all its debt by selling
non-core businesses.
"In my opinion, a 12 billion crown (credit) is the amount,
which from the financial point of view is possible to draw from
financial institutions," Ostrowski said.
The firm has said it would distribute cash to shareholders
through dividend or share buyback, if it does not find suitable
takeover targets by summer.
"I think at the moment there are no such (takeover) plans...
I have not heard about any possible acquisition in our region,"
Ostrovski said.
"At this moment, the market is quite good, therefore a lot
of companies are thinking about growing, not selling, their
business."
But he said any future plans would be clearer after approval
of a mid-term growth strategy, due to be discussed by the
supervisory board in late March.
"If the decision is ... organic growth year by year without
any big jumps, that means that it is a possible scenario that we
can share the money (with shareholders)," Ostrowski said.
Ostrowski said the main target was to develop the
petrochemical business, without elaborating on any possible
large-scale investment project.
He also reiterated the company would continue enhancing
petrol retail chain Benzina by buying individual petrol stations
or building new ones in selected areas.
Unipetrol shares closed at 286 crowns on Wednesday, 0.87
percent weaker on the day, while Prague's PX <> index rose
1.35 percent.
($1=17.58 Czech Crown)
(Editing by Will Waterman)
