Polish Diversity Grows, LNG up in Q1
Poland imported less gas from Russia and more LNG in the first quarter of the year, Poland's dominant oil and gas company PGNiG said in its results May 23. Gazprom accounted for 78% of the country's supply, down from 84% in the same period of 2017, while LNG imports were up 31%. That was despite a doubling of the amount of gas contracted to come from Qatar, with effect from the start of the year.
The net income for the period was zloty 1.57bn ($430mn), down 2%; while revenue was up 14%, at zloty 13.25bn. CEO Piotr Wozniak said sales were up, thanks to "consistent implementation of our customer base management strategy, robust economic growth and low air temperatures." And oil and gas prices were also higher. So exploration and production gained while trade and storage declined. "We are also happy to see further diversification of gas supply sources, our strategic priority,” he said.
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The consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) came in at zloty 2.67bn, down 3% year on year.
Upstream revenues grew 7% year on year, to zloty 1.98bn, reflecting a global uptrend in oil and gas prices but year on year, Ebitda remained broadly unchanged, at zloty 1.38bn.
Trade and Storage posted revenue of zloty 10.21bn, up 17% on Q1 2017, led by a 13% rise in gas sales volumes. On February 27 PGNiG supplied a record daily gas volume of 80.4mn m³, compared with the average daily volume of gas of 62.5mn m³ over the quarter. The strong sales drove a 19% year-on-year increase in imports, to 3.84bn m³. But despite that, Ebitda was down 50% year on year, to zloty 179mn, eroded by higher gas procurement costs.
Distribution reported a 7% rise in volume (of 4.22bn m³) and revenue reached zloty 1.55bn, an increase of around 6% year on year. This was driven by stronger demand led by low air temperatures in both February and March, it said. The segment’s Ebitda was zloty 0.76bn, up 10% year on year.
Generation also continued on a strong uptrend, with revenue from sales of heat and electricity up 4% and 14% respectively. Total revenue came to zloty 0.92bn, up 7% year on year, but the segment posted a 2% year-on-year decrease in Ebitda to zloty 0.4bn.