OMV Stung by Weaker Upstream Earnings in Q4

Austrian oil firm OMV posted a €1.88bn ($2.26bn) net income in the fourth quarter, it said on February 4, versus €355mn a year earlier. But adjusted profit fell to €219mn from €310mn, while operating profit dropped by a third to €524mn.

Revenues slid to €4.96bn from €6.07bn, on the back of lower prices and a slump in oil and gas production to 472,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day from 505,000 boe/d. OMV's upstream clean operating result came to only €184mn, versus €459mn a year earlier.

The company's downstream business was more resilient, recording €369mn in operating profit compared with €385mn in the final quarter of 2019. This was despite downstream margins declining 66% to $1.7/b. Downstream gas sales increased 13% to 50.4 TWh.

OMV projects full-year production to average 480,000 boe/d, although the figure will depend on the situation in war-torn Libya and Opec+ policy. It expects Brent to average $50-55/b in 2021.

The company has proposed a €1.85/share dividend for the fourth quarter, representing a 6% increase from payouts a year earlier.