BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 29. Enilive, Eni’s mobility transformation company, achieved a 5-percent increase in adjusted operating profit in Q4 '23, reaching 117 million euros, Trend reports.
According to the company, in the fiscal year 2023, Enilive saw a year-on-year growth of 8 percent, totaling 728 million euros.
Specifically, the refining business reported a Q4 '23 adjusted operating profit of 33 million euros, contrasting with the 355 million euros profit in Q4 '22. In the entire fiscal year '23, the refining sector reported an adjusted operating profit of 441 million euros, in comparison to 1.511 billion euros in fiscal year '22.
The decline in Q4 '23 can be attributed to the narrowing differentials between heavy/sour and light/sweet crude qualities, and product crack spreads, the company explained. This was partially mitigated by decreased energy expenses resulting from a decline in natural gas prices. In contrast, the exceptionally robust refining margins in the same quarter of the previous year contributed to a favorable comparison.
Meanwhile, in Q4 '23, the chemicals business, overseen by Versalis, reported a substantial increase in the adjusted operating loss, reaching 237 million euros, compared to the loss incurred in Q4 '22 (87 million euros). The results were adversely affected by reduced demand across all business segments, driven by a macroeconomic slowdown and higher production costs in Europe for energy inputs. This led to a decrease in the competitiveness of Versalis productions compared to the US and Asian players in an oversupplied market, Eni noted.
For the entire fiscal year '23, the adjusted operating result showed a loss of 614 million euros, a significant increase from the 254 million euros loss in fiscal year '22. This reflects the exceptionally unfavorable market conditions experienced during the quarter.
In the fourth quarter of '23, Enilive's combined proforma adjusted EBIT for refining and chemicals, including the operating margin of the equity-accounted entities, was a negative 0.03 billion euros, in contrast to 0.56 billion euros in Q4 '22. The fiscal year '23 total was 0.96 billion euros, compared to 2.45 billion euros in the corresponding period.