OREANDA-NEWS. In 2013 INA Group EBITDA (excluding special items) amounted to HRK 3.7 billion and net profit (excl. special items ) to HRK 953 million. Total net sales revenues amounted to HRK 27.4 billion.

Capital expenditures were very intense in 2013. A significant increase of 57% has been accomplished compared to 2012 thus the investments reached the level of HRK 2,013 million, with more than 80% invested domestically, mainly in the Upstream segment. There are multiple projects aimed at moderating natural production decline underway, including continuation of EOR project at Ivanic-Zutica and Medimurje project, raising level of domestic investments to the level of HRK 1,655 million.

Group's financial position further improved with gearing level decreasing from 31% to 27% and net debt cutting down by 29% compared to 31 December 2012 to HRK 4,761 million, giving INA financial strength and flexibility for future growth. Net financial expenses also recorded a decrease in 2013 to the amount of HRK 246 million, compared to HRK 292 million in 2012.

In this occasion, the president of the Management Board Mr Zoltan Aldott's said that 2013 was a tough year for INA as its key markets (Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia) continued to be depressed from an economic and demand point of view and situation in Syria did not move in any positive direction. “Despite this, in order to ensure the sustainability of all our businesses, we focused on investments for the future, carried forward internal efficiency improvements and improved further the safety of our operations. We grew investments by almost 60% to above HRK 2 bn (of this 83% was spent in Croatia) with main priorities in offshore exploration and development drilling activities, Pannonian basin exploration drilling, our key EOR project, a turnaround project in Rijeka Refinery and an intensive retail modernization program.

Results of these activities is clearly visible in the dramatically slowed down production decline rate of our onshore oilfields and improvement in our domestic market share in motor fuels, as well as sharply lower own consumption and losses in our refineries. We applied a proactive approach towards export markets and achieved a solid export growth to neighboring countries. Improvements are also visible in the area of retail sales, where the continued modernization program (involving 30 stations in 2013, bringing the size of fully modern network to 160, far above any competitor in the country) elevate the quality and consumer perception of our services. We also launched a pilot project to involve entrepreneurs into the operation of our filling stations, a model widely used in the industry, with the aim of reaching competitive operating costs and highest quality of service. During its day-to-day operations INA has shown its ability to stay one step ahead and achieve considerable improvement in HSE performance, bringing INA close to best European industry benchmarks.

Accounting results last year were heavily impacted by external and special factors. Constantly monitoring situation in Syria we adjusted the value of our Syrian assets taking into consideration the prolonged political and security risks. This adjustment, applied to ensure fair valuation of the Syrian assets, decreased operating results by HRK 1,504 mn, however, had no direct cash effects. Reflecting on the incurred losses and the generally unfavourable outlook on the European refining scene, we impaired our downstream assets by HRK 738 mn. The retroactive taxes related to refinery own consumption and losses levied by the Croatian Tax Authority, additionally burdened the bottom line by HRK 220 mn.” - concluded Mr Aldott.