In the first quarter of 2023, NIS started a new ambitious investment cycle, so 6.5 billion dinars were invested in capital projects, which is 71 percent more than the investments realized in the same period last year. Most of the funds were placed in the area of oil and gas exploration and production, as well as in the further modernization of the Pancevo Oil Refinery and the NIS retail network. In addition, the focus of NIS was the continuation of the orderly supply of all types of oil derivatives to the market, and in the reporting period a total of 956 thousand tons of crude oil and semi-products were processed in the Pancevo Oil Refinery, which is 6 percent more than in the first quarter of 2022.
In the period January-March, NIS achieved good financial results, but they are expectedly weaker than in the same period last year, taking into account market trends. First of all, the average price of “Brent” oil was 81.3 dollars per barrel, which is 20 percent less than the average price for the same period in 2022. Also, the consumption of motor fuels in Serbia is down by 2.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. In accordance with these trends, NIS Group achieved a net profit of 11.7 billion dinars, which is 25 percent less compared to the period January-March 2022. The EBITDA indicator is 19.9 billion dinars, that is, 22 percent less compared to the result achieved in the comparative reporting period. The calculated obligations of the NIS Group based on taxes and other public revenues amount to 50.3 billion dinars.
When it comes to operational indicators, the total production of 282.8 thousand conditional tons of oil and gas was achieved, which is three percent less than in the first quarter of 2022. The turnover volume of oil derivatives is 908.9 thousand tons, which is a drop of 5 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
Kiril Tjurdenyev, General Director of NIS, stated:
In 2023, our focus is on investments and further modernization of NIS in all business segments – from exploration and production of oil and gas to the development of projects in the field of power engineering. In addition, we remain committed to the orderly supply of the market and our contribution to the energy stability of Serbia. For both priorities, we laid good foundations in the first quarter of this year, which allows us to simultaneously devote ourselves to the acceleration of the energy transition of the NIS Group and the implementation of environmental protection improvement projects.
