Pressemitteilungen

• Clean CCS EBITDA amounted to USD 1.347bn in Q2 2022 and USD 2.179bn in H1 2022, driven by favourable macro conditions but affected by state interventions
• Upstream Clean EBITDA doubled to USD 576mn, due to rising oil prices coupling with the impact of the elevated gas price environment in Q2 2022
• Consumer Services EBITDA collapsed and fell to almost one fourth in Q2 year-on-year, came in at USD 46mn due to the fuel price regulation in some Central and Eastern European countries and the retail tax in Hungary
• Downstream CCS EBITDA resulted in USD 863mn in Q2 2022 as diminishing Petchem contribution was offset by higher R&M EBITDA generation
• The estimated impact of fuel price regulation and windfall taxes amounted to approximately USD 640mn, with 90% relating to operations in Hungary in H1 2022
• Full-year EBITDA guidance upgraded to „aroundUSD 3.3 bn” from „around USD 2.8 bn”.
• Budapest, 5August 2022 – Today MOL Group announced its financial results for Q2 and H1 2022. In the first six months MOL Group delivered USD 2.179bn EBITDA while in Q2 the EBITDA reached USD 1.347bn, an overall strong result considering the volatile, unpredictable and uncertain external environment. Upstream and Downstream segments were able to mitigate the impact of fuel price regulation in some CEE countries and the windfall taxes in Hungary. The estimated impact these measures amounted to approximately USD 640mn, with 90% relating to operations in Hungary in H1 2022.Strong Q2 EBITDA allows MOL Group to raise its 2022 full year guidance to „around USD 3.3 bn” from „around USD 2.8 bn”.  

Upstream EBITDA jumped to USD 576mn in Q2 2022 and simplified free cash flow generation rose to USD 504mn, due to the more than 40 USD/barrel uplift of Brent oil price year-on-year and the more than fourfold increase in spot gas prices. Upstream was the biggest free cash-flow contributor to MOL Group’s results in the first half of 2022, delivering 60% of the total number. The oil and gas production volume averaged at 92.4 mboepd, above the annual guidance but declined by almost 6% compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the natural production decline and the lower ACG net entitlement production affected by the higher oil prices.

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a Washington, DC-based court of arbitration under the World Bank, has issued its final rulings in the dispute between MOL Plc and the Republic of Croatia in a 216-page Award. Thus, an arbitration case that began in 2013 has now been finally decided. The Award finds that MOL is the prevailing party in the arbitration. The arbitration tribunal awarded MOL over US$235 million including interest.

On the central issue in the arbitration regarding Croatia’s allegations that certain agreements that were approved by the Croatian Government in 2009 were obtained by corruption, the Award states clearly and unequivocally that, based on the extensive evidence analyzed by the arbitrators, Croatia’s bribery allegations are rejected. The ruling of the Washington-based court of arbitration means that, once again, an international body comprised of highly accomplished and experienced decisionmakers, has determined that neither MOL nor its Chairman and CEO Zsolt Hernádi engaged in any corrupt activities as Croatia has been alleging since 2011. 

Over the course of an 8-year arbitration, the three-member arbitral tribunal reviewed all the key evidence, including evidence that Croatia presented in the recent trial in Zagreb which led to the conviction of MOL’s CEO and Chairman and former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. The evidence included the testimony of dozens of witnesses, tens of thousands of documents, and the opinions of internationally-recognized experts. Croatia argued in the arbitration, as it did in the criminal proceedings in Zagreb, that the evidence it presented established bribery and corruption. Like the arbitrators in the earlier UNCITRAL arbitration that ended in December 2016, the ICSID arbitrators unanimously disagreed.

In rejecting Croatia’s bribery charges, the arbitrators examined in detail the testimonies of Croatia’s key witness, Robert Jezic. On every aspect of Jezic’s testimony, the arbitrators found him to be contradictory, evasive and untruthful. The arbitrators expressed strong doubts regarding the reliability and veracity of the witness during the dispute settlement process as well as the criminal process in Zagreb. They endorsed the unanimous opinion of the UNCITRAL arbitrators that Jezic must be considered a thoroughly unreliable witness whose testimony cannot be accepted by any competent court or decisionmaker. The arbitrators also found unreliable the testimony of a Swiss tax adviser, who served as Croatia’s other main witness in the criminal proceedings in Zagreb.

The Award marks the end of a lengthy international legal dispute. Other than in Croatia, all courts and prosecution offices have come to the same conclusion: that no corruption had taken place.

In December 2016, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) ruled in favour of MOL. According to the court of arbitration, Croatia was unable to provide proof for the corruption charges, while the crown witness was determined as lacking credibility entirely.

The Constitutional Court of Croatia found severe infringements of rights during the Croatian judicial procedures.

As a consequence of the establishment of the fact that no corruption had taken place, the ICSID tribunal also ruled on the claims for damages put forward by MOL. The ruling of ICSID established that the Croatian government failed to take over the gas trading business (PP) of INA despite its contractual obligation to do so, inflicting USD 167.84 million in damages on INA, and thus indirectly to MOL. According to the court, Croatia caused further damages to MOL by forcing the sale of PP’s stored gas, for which MOL was awarded USD 16.1 million. The ruling established that Croatia is to pay interest to MOL and reimburse a significant portion of its arbitration costs. The total amount of damages awarded to MOL is around USD 236 million, including interest. Interest will continue to accrue on this amount until the awarded amounts are paid by Croatia. As MOL was also the victorious party in the arbitration, the tribunal also ruled that Croatia pay most of the costs of the proceedings.

Several additional claims by MOL were denied by the arbitrators for technical reasons.

Croatia is signatory to the international treaty that established ICSID. Under its international law obligations and Croatian law, Croatia is required to respect the arbitrators’ decisions as if they are a decision of Croatia’s highest courts.

Budapest, 06 May 2022 – Today, MOL Group announced its financial results for Q1 2022. MOL Group delivered USD 833mn Clean CCS EBITDA in Q1 2022, on the back of the very high oil and gas prices. However, results were down by 6% compared to the previous quarter. Upstream’s performance drove the results, Downstream was influenced by volatile and controversial macro and price effects so it remained the same as last year, while Consumer Services suffered from the fuel price caps throughout several Central and Eastern European countries. MOL Group produced USD 510mn free cash-flow, more than half of the 2022 guidance, as all segments generated positive contribution.

Chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi commented on the results: “2022 brought new challenges once again. Amongst rapidly changing external conditions, volatile and often adverse circumstances, MOL Group proved that we have the ability to react swiftly, a USD 833mn Q1 2022 Clean CCS EBITDA generation proves that we have been on the right track.

However, the greatest challenges in the upcoming period are no less than to secure energy supply security and maintain our profitability. We’re making significant efforts to adapt to the new environment and diversify our portfolio further to secure energy supplies to the CEE region. Also, MOL is in the middle of a transformation journey which requires heavy investments. We are very much committed to continue this process in the current volatile environment too. MOL Group has shown resilience during several crises in the past and I am confident that we will maintain our crucial role in providing a predictable energy supply and remain a trusted partner of our customers, stakeholders and the wider society.”

• Upstream EBITDA reached USD 504mn in Q1 2022, increased by 104% compared to last year’s Q1 result. The good performance was driven by the continuously higher oil and gas prices, the more than 40 USD/bbl uplift of Brent oil price and the fivefold increase in spot gas prices. Production volumes were down compared to last year’s same period, due to the natural decline in CEE and in Pakistan and the production decline of the ACG asset in Azerbaijan. Simplified free cash-flow contribution of Upstream rose to USD 420mn from USD 160mn year-on-year. As for the operations, MOL signed an agreement with Waldorf Production Limited (“Waldorf”) covering the sale of its entire Upstream portfolio in the United Kingdom.
• Downstream Clean CCS EBITDA came in at USD 254mn, exactly the same as last year in the same period as volatile external environment influenced the results both positive and negative ways. Diminishing petchem contribution was offset by higher Refining and Marketing EBITDA generation. Ural differential and gasoil crack- driven margin expansion in March was partly off-set by decreasing price realization and significantly rising energy costs. Meanwhile, sales volumes increased by 11% year-on-year, pulled by the skyrocketed Hungarian sales as the market has been distorted by the wholesale fuel price cap introduced since mid-February. Scaling up sustainability and transformation in Downstream continued in Q1 2022: greenfield investment of a 100kT propylene plant started, acquisition of ReMat, a market leading plastic recycler in Hungary was completed in this quarter. The polyol complex reached a mechanical completion ratio of 96% by Q1 2022.
• Consumer Services EBITDA decreased by 44% in Q1 2022 compared to the result of last year’s same period, despite sales volume increased by 20% and the number of transactions increased by 7% year-on-year, resulting in expanding market share throughout the CEE region. Fuel price regulatory measures in Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina reset EBITDA to around Q1 2017 levels as fuel margins lowered on group-level. Non-fuel margin increased of 8% year-on-year, supported mainly by grocery, gastro and hot dog sales uplift. The number of Fresh Corner sites rose to 1081 in Q1 2022 from 984 at Q1 2021. In January 2022, MOL signed a set of agreements with Grupa Lotos SA and PKN Orlen covering the sale and purchase of several portfolio elements and as a result MOL acquires 417 service stations in Poland that allows the company to reach 3rd position in the local fuel retail market. This deal is subject to merger clearence.
• Gas Midstream Q1 2022 EBITDA reached USD 48mn, the result is similar to the previous year’s Q1 performance. Further climbing gas purchase prices had negative impact and resulted in more than doubled gas consumption cost.

About MOL Group

MOL Group is an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals and consumer retail company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is active in over 30 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 25,000 people and a track record of more than 100 years. MOL Group operates three refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain-management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of almost 2000 service stations across 10 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe. MOL’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 85 years’ experience in the field of hydrocarbons and 30 years in the injection of CO2. At the moment, there are production activities in 9 countries and exploration assets in 14 countries.

MOL is committed to transform its traditional fossil-fuel-based operations into a low-carbon, sustainable business model and aspires to become net carbon neutral by 2050 while shaping the low-carbon circular economy in Central-and Eastern Europe.

Press contact

@: internationalpress@mol.hu

• MOL builds one of the largest capacity green hydrogen plants in Europe in Százhalombatta, Hungary
• This investment of EUR 22 million allows MOL to produce 1600 tons of green hydrogen annually with the help of renewable electricity and enables ~25 000 tons of CO2 saving
• By introducing this new technology, MOL becomes a major player in the sustainable hydrogen economy in the region
• The development is a major milestone on the way to deliver on MOL’s updated SHAPE TOMORROW 2030+ Strategy, which set the aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050

BUDAPEST AND LATHAM, N.Y., Apr. 27, 2022 – MOL Group, has teamed up with Plug Power Inc. , a leading provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions for the global green hydrogen economy, to build one of Europe’s largest-capacity green hydrogen production facilities at MOL’s Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta, Hungary. Green hydrogen will reduce the carbon footprint of the Danube Refinery operation and enable emission-free mobility in the longer term.

Utilizing a 10-megawatt (MW) electrolysis unit from Plug Power, MOL’s €22 million facility will be able to produce approximately 1,600 tons of clean, carbon-neutral, green hydrogen annually, removing up to 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide by displacing the currently used natural gas-based production process. As this process represents one-sixth of the carbon dioxide emissions of MOL Group, this investment supports MOL’s carbon neutrality goals and will contribute to energy independence for the region.

Once operational in 2023, MOL will use the green hydrogen in its Danube Refinery during fuel production of its own hydrogen system. It will be incorporated into the molecules of MOL fuels, lowering the carbon outputs from the production technology and the final product.

“We are convinced that hydrogen is not only one of the most important energy carriers of the already ongoing energy transition, but it will be an essential factor in the new, carbon-neutral energy system as well. This new technology allows the introduction of green hydrogen production in Hungary, Százhalombatta, which makes MOL Group one of the most important players in the sustainable energy economy in the region,” said Gabriel Szabó, Executive Vice President of Downstream at MOL Group.

“Green hydrogen addresses two critical issues facing humanity: climate change and energy independence,” said Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug. “And our opportunities seem limitless to support the trend to pull green hydrogen into more traditional industrial hydrogen markets throughout the world. We are pleased to provide our state-of-the-art electrolyzer technology to MOL Group’s Danube Refinery and enable MOL Group to take a big step forward in addressing these issues for the region.”

The production of green hydrogen does not generate any greenhouse gas emissions. The Plug equipment uses electricity from a renewable source to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas by a process called electrolysis. This process does not produce any by-products that harm the environment. By producing one ton of hydrogen, eight-to-nine tons of pure oxygen is also produced by the equipment, saving nearly 10,000 tons of natural gas consumption in the process. Plug’s electrolyzers, with nearly 50 years of operational experience in applications demanding high reliability, are modular, scalable hydrogen generators optimized for clean hydrogen production.

The company behind the world’s first and most comprehensive Green Hydrogen Ecosystem , Plug is making green hydrogen adoption simple for companies ready to improve both efficiency and sustainability of their operations. Plug’s independent green hydrogen production network is targeting 70 TPD by the end of 2022 and remains on track to have 500 TPD of green hydrogen generation network in North America by 2025 and 1,000 TPD on a global basis by 2028.

Green hydrogen production is an integral part of MOL’s updated SHAPE TOMORROW strategy, which

focuses on sustainability and is completely harmonized with The European Green Deal. Within the framework of its strategy, the company will make a total investment of €1 billion into the low carbon circular economy through 2025. MOL will reduce the carbon footprint of its operations by 30 percent by 2030 and will spend 50 percent of investment expenditures on sustainable projects. MOL aims to implement a carbon-neutral operation by 2050.

About MOL Group

MOL Group is an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals, and consumer retail company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is active in over 30 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 25,000 people and a track record of more than 100 years. MOL Group operates three refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain management in Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia, and owns a network of almost 2000 service stations across 10 countries in Central & South-Eastern Europe. MOL’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 85 years of experience in the field of hydrocarbons and 30 years in the injection of CO2. At the moment, there are production activities in 9 countries and exploration assets in 14 countries.

MOL is committed to transforming its traditional fossil-fuel-based operations into a low-carbon, sustainable business model and aspires to become net carbon neutral by 2050 while shaping the low-carbon circular economy in Central and Eastern Europe. For more information, visit www.molgroup.info.

About Plug

Plug is building an end-to-end green hydrogen ecosystem, from production, storage and delivery to energy generation, to help its customers meet their business goals and decarbonize the economy. In creating the first commercially viable market for hydrogen fuel cell technology, the company has deployed more than 50,000 fuel cell systems and over 165 fueling stations, more than anyone else in the world, and is the largest buyer of liquid hydrogen. With plans to build and operate a green hydrogen highway across North America and Europe, Plug is building a state-of-the-art Gigafactory to produce electrolyzers and fuel cells and multiple green hydrogen production plants that will yield 500 tons of liquid green hydrogen daily by 2025. Plug will deliver its green hydrogen solutions directly to its customers and through joint venture partners into multiple environments, including material handling, e-mobility, power generation, and industrial applications. For more information, visit www.plugpower.com .

• MOL Group acquired ReMat Zrt., a Hungarian market leading plastics recycling company using communal and industrial waste for creating regranules
• Aligned with its strategic goal to become a leader in the low-carbon circular economy in CEE, MOL continues building a strong portfolio in the field of plastic recycling and waste integration
• MOL’s total capacity of recycled plastic material raised to 40,000 tons/year, together with the latest acquisition of Aurora Kunststoffe Gmbh in Germany

Budapest, 1 April 2022 – MOL Group acquired ReMat Zrt., a recycler with production plants located in Tiszaújváros and Rakamaz, Hungary, and a logistics hub in Bratislava, Slovakia. ReMat is a market leading plastics recycler in Hungary with an annual processing capacity of 25,000 tons and almost 200 employees. The transaction fits into MOL’s portfolio and its goal to become a key player in the low carbon circular economy in Central and Eastern Europe.

ReMat is Hungary’s market leader in plastics recycling, using plastic waste from communal and industrial sources. The company prepares a wide range of polyethylene and polypropylene regranules and tailor-made products. ReMat has automatic selecting system, cleaning and regranulating equipment from leading manufacturers that can process up to 25,000 tons annually. With this acquisition, MOL will be able to develop tailor-made virgin and recyclate solutions to fulfill the ever-increasing demand of its customers for circular materials.

MOL Group launched its “Shape Tomorrow” 2030+ Strategy in last February, fully integrated with a new sustainability strategy, and started to act already to deliver on it. One of the main pillars of the Strategy is integrating circular economy in MOL’s operation, the company will spend USD 1bn in the next 5 years on new circular economy and green projects. Waste integration and utilisation is a key element of the new sustainable approach.

”We need plastic for our everyday life, plastic is good, what we don’t like is untreated plastic waste that is polluting the planet. MOL has started to invest in the circular economy, because we all want to live in a better environment; and for that we need more recycled goods. In addition, there is an increasing need from our customers for recycled material so good cause meets here with good business opportunities. With that in mind, in the last couple of years we started to build a strong portfolio around recycling. And we won’s stop here: for a net zero economy, we also have to use all kinds of waste as a resource, in a much more clever way than how we do today. Our goal is to become a key player in the low-carbon circular economy in Central and Eastern Europe and this acquisition is a major step towards this fascinating goal” - said Gabriel Szabó, Executive Vice President of MOL Group Downstream.

“We have come a long way since our foundation and are incredibly proud to be a pioneer within Hungary’s plastic recycling industry. Over the last two decades we have invested into state-of-the-art facilities and constantly expanded our processing capacities capable of supporting Hungary’s obligations towards the European Union regarding plastic recycling. We are excited to be joining MOL and look forward to continuing to drive growth for this attractive business” -said László Olasz, CEO of ReMat.

MOL has implemented investments already and it is continuously seeking for the opportunities to grow the share of recycled materials in its product portfolio. In November 2019, the first step was taken with the acquisition of Aurora Kunststoffe GmbH, a recycled plastic-based compounder in Germany. With a total combined annual capacity of 40,000 tons of Aurora and ReMat, MOL can offer a wide range of sustainable compounds and regranulates for the automotive and packaging industries. MOL also entered into a strategic partnership with German company APK, a pioneer in the development of plastic recycling technology, whose solvent based process is capable of producing high-quality polymers from complex plastic waste. Recently, MOL entered into strategic partnership with Swiss Meraxis to forge ahead with the development and production of polyolefin re-compounds in the future. MOL is planning investments in the field of chemical recycling as well and taking serious steps towards further waste-management activities.

MOL and HELM join forces on the marketing of propylene glycols in Western Europe and overseas markets. HELM will market propylene glycols produced by MOL´s newly built chemical complex in Tiszaújváros. The 1.3 billion Euro investment will be focusing on the production of 200,000 tons of polyols per year but also has a production capacity of 80,000 tons of propylene glycols.

Tiszaújváros/Budapest, Hungary and Hamburg, Germany (March 25, 2022)

MOL Petrochemicals Private Company Ltd. (“MOL”) and HELM AG (“HELM”) have agreed on a long-term marketing co-operation for propylene glycols produced by MOL in its backwards-integrated, newly built polyol chemical complex in Tiszaújváros, Hungary. The product range will include both technical and higher value added monopropylene glycol and dipropylene glycol grades.

The Tiszaújváros complex will produce polyols and propylene glycols using efficient and environmentally friendly technologies such as the HPPO process (propylene oxide from hydrogen peroxide) developed by Thyssen Krupp and Evonik. The overall progress of the Project has exceeded 90%.

In the marketing agreement with HELM, MOL will contribute with its extensive knowledge in the production of petrochemicals, while HELM will provide its supply chain know-how and commercial expertise through its global market presence. Both partners also cooperate on developing the highest standards of certified propylene glycols, to distribute the materials in all fields of applications, including pharmaceutical raw materials as well as industrial applications for unsaturated polyester resin production and to serve the deicing sector.

HELM’s market knowledge and infrastructure ensure MOL’s successful and efficient propylene glycol market entry in the selected regions. However, CEE market sales, as MOL’s home market, will be co-ordinated by MOL.

 "HELM is proud to be selected as exclusive marketing partner by MOL to serve the North, West and South of Europe with high quality Propylene Glycols. The cooperation will strengthen HELM´s global set up and lets us become a major player in Propylene Glycols next to the existing strong position in Ethylene Glycols,“ says Axel Viering, Member of the Executive Board of HELM.

“The polyol project represents an important milestone in the history of the entire MOL Group for stepping forward in the value chain and producing high value-added petrochemical products. We look forward to the collaboration with HELM and believe that it will also be essential for ensuring the successful ramp up of the polyol complex,” stated Gabriel Szabó, Executive Vice President, MOL Group Downstream.

For more detailed information on our Polyol project, please visit: https://molgroup.info/en/products-and-services/petrochemicals/polyol

About MOL Group

MOL Group is an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals and consumer retail company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is active in over 30 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 25,000 people and a track record of more than 100 years. MOL Group operates three refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of almost 2000 service stations across 10 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe. MOL’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 85 years’ experience in the field of hydrocarbons and more than 30 years in the injection of CO2. At the moment, there are production activities in 9 countries and exploration assets in 14 countries. MOL is committed to transform its traditional fossil-fuel-based operations into a low-carbon, sustainable business model and aspires to become net carbon neutral by 2050 while shaping the low-carbon circular economy in Central-and Eastern Europe.

About HELM

HELM is a Hamburg, Germany, based family-owned company established in 1900. HELM is one of the world’s largest chemicals marketing companies and committed to providing solutions to its partners worldwide that support a successful transformation to a sustainable economy and society. The company secures access to the world’s key markets through its specific regional knowledge and its multinational presence. As a multifunctional marketing organization HELM is active in the chemicals industry, in the crop protection industry, in pharmaceuticals and in the fertilizer industry.

Press contact

@: internationalpress@mol.hu

• Full-year 2021 Clean CCS EBITDA reached USD 3.531 bn, exceeding the upgraded annual guidance of USD 3.2bn
• Group-level Q4 2021 Clean CCS EBITDA more than doubled year-on-year and came in at USD 947mn, reflecting the much stronger oil macro
• Upstream Q4 2021 EBITDA rebounded by 184% to USD 513mn from the 2020 lows, driven by continuously higher oil and gas prices
• Downstream Q4 Clean CCS EBITDA increased by 165% compared to last year’s result to USD 352mn, boosted by high refinery and petrochemical margins
• Consumer Services Q4 2021 EBITDA decreased by 10 % year-on-year, affected by the fuel price cap in Hungary and Croatia,  while full-year result increased by 19%
• MOL sets 2022 EBITDA guidance at around USD 2.8bn

Budapest, 18 February 2022 – Today, MOL Group announced its financial results for Q4 and full year 2021. In a very volatile external environment, MOL Group generated USD 947mn Clean CCS EBITDA in Q4, bringing full-year clean CCS EBITDA to an all-time high USD 3.531bn, above the updated guidance. Simplified free cash flow tripled since last year and amounted to USD 1,988mn, mainly driven by the favorable oil and gas prices and refinery/petrochemical margins. This result allows MOL to fund its ongoing and planned transformational projects.  MOL expects 2022 EBITDA at around USD 2.8bn

Chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi commented the results:

“I am proud that MOL Group significantly outperformed the upgraded guidance and delivered an all-time high EBITDA of USD 3.5bn in 2021. Due to MOL’s integrated business model and the good internal performance we were able to maximize the benefits from the external environment, allowing us to fund our transformational investments.

Despite the operational challenges we continued our strategic transformational journey that we accelerated with the Shape Tomorrow 2030+ Strategy update one year ago. The construction of the new polyol complex proceeded according to plan and we also took inorganic steps to strengthen our Consumer Services portfolio in Poland and Slovenia. We expect that the external environment would remain volatile and unpredictable in 2022. Against this macro backdrop we expect MOL’s EBITDA generation to reach or even exceed USD 2.8bn this year.”

Upstream 2021 Q4 EBITDA jumped by 184% to USD 513mn from the 2020 lows, bringing full-year Upstream EBITDA to USD 1.554bn, nearly half of MOL Group’s total results. The great performance was driven by the 70% uplift of  Brent oil price and the 3.5 times higher gas prices compared to last year. Simplified free cash flow significantly improved to USD 399mn in Q4, bringing Upstream’s simplified free cash flow generation to USD 1.15bn in 2021. Annual oil and gas production remained above 110 mboepd that meets the group-level target,  ACG asset in Azerbaijan positively contributed to the volumes while natural decline continued mainly in Central and Eastern Europe and in the UK.  

Downstream full-year 2021 Clean CCS EBITDA doubled to nearly USD 1.5bn, due to the much higher refinery margins and petchem margins, of which petchem contributed over 50%. Q4 2021 result also increased from a depressed base by 165% to USD 352mn year-on-year. Sales volumes grew by 3% year-on-year in Q4, supported by higher third party sales, while regional motor fuel demand increased by 4% in Central and Eastern Europe, MOL’s core region.

Consumer Services:  The division achieved a 19 %  full-year EBITDA growth, supported by sales volumes and non-fuel margin improvement. Fuel price cap in Hungary and Croatia, and the weakening of the local currencies against the USD had a negative effect on the trend of continuous year-on-year EBITDA increases, Q4 EBITDA declined by 10% compared to the 2020 same quarter results.

The non-fuel concept rollout continued: the number of reconstructed sites with Fresh Corners rose to 1,069 from 955 at the end of 2020. In 2021, MOL announced several acquisitions to deliver on the “ShapeTomorrow” 2030+ strategy: 16 service stations in Slovakia and 120 OMV service stations in Slovenia. The acquisitions continued in Q1 2022 with 417 Lotos-branded service stations in Poland.

The Gas Midstream segment reached USD 135.6mn EBITDA in 2021, 33% lower than a year ago. In Q4, EBITDA fell by 18% year-on year to USD 34mn, due to sharply rising gas purchase prices and due to the fact that transmission towards Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina stopped in 2021, resulting in diminishing non-regulated transit revenues. CAPEX spending was lower as Serbian-Hungarian interconnector project was completed in Q3 2021 and was commissioned during Q4 2021.

About MOL Group

MOL Group is an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals and consumer retail company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is active in over 30 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 25,000 people and a track record of more than 100 years. MOL Group operates three refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain-management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of almost 2000 service stations across 10 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe. MOL’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 85 years’ experience in the field of hydrocarbons and 30 years in the injection of CO2. At the moment, there are production activities in 9 countries and exploration assets in 14 countries.

MOL is committed to transform its traditional fossil-fuel-based operations into a low-carbon, sustainable business model and aspires to become net carbon neutral by 2050 while shaping the low-carbon circular economy in Central-and Eastern Europe.

Press contact

@: internationalpress@mol.hu

• Clean CCS EBITDA resulted in USD 1,025mn in Q3 2021, mainly driven by the macro-economic environment and the strong internal performance
• Clean CCS EBITDA for the first 3 quarters reached USD 2,583mn, 63% higher than last year in the same period, recovering from pandemic-hit 2020 base
• Annual EBITDA guidance further upgraded, expected to reach or even exceed USD 3.2bn
• Upstream EBITDA jumped by 87% year-on-year to USD 396mn, driven by the improvement of the macro-economic environment
• Downstream Clean CCS EBITDA increased to USD 436mn in Q3, boosted by favorable macro conditions such as doubling petrochemical margins year-on-year
• Consumer Services reached USD 211mn EBITDA in Q3, improving by 15% compared to Q3 last year due to the strong economic recovery in the core regions
• Soaring commodity prices and the progression of the pandemic in MOL’s core region creates a volatile and relatively unpredictable operational environment

Budapest, 05November 2021 – Today, MOL Group announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2021. Supported by the macro-economic environment, the doubling petrochemicals margins compared to last year and the internal performance of the company, Clean CCS EBITDA strongly rebounded and came in at USD 1,025mn in Q3 2021. This result brought Q1-Q3 2021 EBITDA to USD 2,583mn that allows MOL to further upgrade full year guidance to reach or even exceed USD 3.2bn. Organic capital expenditure was 18% higher year-on-year in Q3 2021, reaching USD 360mn of which USD 68mn was spent on transformational projects including the Polyol plant construction. Meanwhile, world market perturbances, soaring commodity prices, logistics difficulties and the 4th wave of Covid-19 pandemic create an overall relatively unpredictable operational environment.

Chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi commented the results: “The good results of the third quarter have been supported by the favorable external environment and the rebounding regional economic growth. At the same time we also leveraged our strengths, the resilient integrated business model and our highly cost-efficient asset base and operation.

Our very strong year-to-date 2021 delivery allows us to further upgrade our annual EBITDA guidance, which is expected to reach or even exceed USD 3.2bn. At the same time soaring commodity prices and the implications of the coronavirus pandemic pose a significant risk to the economy and generate a very volatile operational environment.

As a result, we remain focused to maintain financial and operational resilience and deliver on our longer-term sustainability related commitments. A higher year-to-date free cash flow generation allows us to fund our sizeable upcoming transformational investments within the framework of MOL’s 2030+ strategy.”

Upstream became the largest free cash-flow contributor of the Group in Q3 2021 as EBITDA jumped by 87% year-on-year to USD 396mn and it was 18% higher even in comparison with the strong previous quarter, supported by the macro-economic environment. Production volumes slightly decreased and resulted in 107.4 mboepd, due to higher crude oil prices reducing net entitlement production in the ACG asset in Azerbaijan and due to the natural decline in Central and Eastern Europe.

Downstream Clean CCS EBITDA increased by 116% to USD 436mn compared to the same period last year, supported by stronger petrochemicals and refining contribution,rebounding from the 2020 lows. Sales volumes grew by 7% year-on-year in Q3 due to stronger regional fuel demand. Integrated petchem margin doubled in Q3 year-on-year, however declined from the record high levels of Q2, due to rising oil- and lower polymer product prices. The polyol plant construction project progressed well and exceeded 89% overall completion at the end of Q3 2021.

Consumer Services Q3 2021 EBITDA reached USD 211mn supported by recovering regional sales volumes and non-fuel contribution. The increase was backed by the strong economic recovery in core markets. Motor fuel demand surpassed Q3 2019 consumption levels in Hungary, Slovakia and in Croatia. The number of transactions increased by +12% year-on-year, as in the same quarter last year customer’s behavior was more influenced by the pandemic situation. The number of Fresh Corner sites rose to 1,028 in Q3 from 1,008 in the previous quarter.

Gas Midstream EBITDA decreased by 30% year-on-year in Q3 to USD 30mn, as both transit revenues and regulated income fell as a result of decreased cross-border capacity and transmission demand. Both domestic transmission volumes and export transmission volumes further declined by 26% in Q3 compared to the same period in 2020. Capital expenditures increased due to the Serbian-Hungarian interconnector project.

Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating Report continue to recognize MOL’s ESG efforts, recently ranked MOL Group in the Top 3% percentile with 7th lowest risk among 256 global oil and gas peers in the industry group. Climate & Environment related material issues received low risk ratings in an oil and gas industry context.

About MOL Group

MOL Group is an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals and consumer retail company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is active in over 30 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 25,000 people and a track record of more than 100 years. MOL Group operates three refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain-management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of almost 2000 service stations across 10 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe. MOL’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 85 years’ experience in the field of hydrocarbons and 30 years in the injection of CO2. At the moment, there are production activities in 9 countries and exploration assets in 14 countries.

MOL is committed to transform its traditional fossil-fuel-based operations into a low-carbon, sustainable business model and aspires to become net carbon neutral by 2050 while shaping the low-carbon circular economy in Central-and Eastern Europe.

Press contact

@: internationalpress@mol.hu