Neste Oil, the number one Finnish oil refining and marketing concern, reports significant gains from the first quarter of the year. Their operating profit according to International Financial Reporting Standards was at 233 million euros, compared with 50 million just one year previously.
CEO Matti Leivonen says that 2015 will be a good year for oil refining, with a weakened euro boosting his company’s bottom line. The first quarter comparable profit for renewable feedstocks rose from 12 million euros to 42 million.
"The year has started positively in a very favorable refining margin environment. We are also pleased with the internal performance in all our business areas," Leivonen says in the company's stock exchange release.
Neste Oil now estimates that the group’s overall profit for the year will be higher than last year. The previous estimate stated that profits would dip under the figures from 2014.
The company’s revenue fell to 2.7 billion euros in the first quarter from 3.5 billion a year earlier. The company explains the drop with a dip in oil prices.
Neste Oil says that the changeable market situation will continue, because global economic unrest can be seen in the markets for oil, renewable fuels and renewable feedstocks. The demand for oil is estimated to rise worldwide this year by some one million barrels a day.
The interim report published on Friday is the last to be released under the company’s current name. The group’s title will change to “Neste Corporation” starting in June.