OREANDA-NEWS. November 30, 2009. The financial results of joint stock company (JSC) Ventspils nafta for the nine month period in 2009 have been impacted by the operating results of the Group companies, all of which have been operating in markets affected by the global economic crisis and international competition. In spite of these external factors, the consolidated net turnover of JSC Ventspils nafta Group was LVL 53.4 million for the period January-September, 2009, but net profit was LVL 0.7 million.

As a result of optimization and reorganization carried out at JSC Ventspils nafta at the end of 2008, JSC Ventspils nafta has significantly decreased expenditures in the first 9 months of 2009, while gross profit reached LVL 4.7 million. However, as all JSC Ventspils nafta Group companies are operating in international markets and a large portion of revenue is denominated in US dollars, USD/ LVL exchange rate fluctuations have had a significant negative effect of more than one million lats on JSC Ventspils nafta financial results.  

The results for the nine months of 2009 show that JSC Ventspils nafta Group companies have maintained stable operations in line with the current market trends affected by global economic conditions.

JSC's Ventspils nafta subsidiary Ventspils nafta terminвls Ltd has transshipped a total of 8.5 million tons of crude oil and petroleum products in the first nine months of 2009. These results can be considered as very successful in the view of external factors that have had significant impact on activity of Ventspils nafta terminвls Ltd in the reported period - the international market structure and the repair works on the main petroleum products pipeline from Polotsk-Ventspils, in the territory of Belarus, which had been planned by the responsible authorities of Russia and Belarus.

From January till September, 2009 the same external market factors have  influenced the results of another JSC Ventspils nafta subsidiary - LatRosTrans Ltd, the owner and operator of crude oil and petroleum products pipeline in the territory of Latvia. Due to onging repairs to the pipeline, which has decreased the discharge capacity and transported volume of petroleum products through the petroleum products pipeline, and the situation in marketplace, LatRosTrans Ltd has shipped more than 3,1 million tons of petroleum products in the nine months of 2009.

In the reporting period, the JSC Ventspils nafta associated company JSC Latvian Shipping Company has maintained profitability despite the global economic crisis reducing the demand for oil product shipments. The net profit of JSC Latvian Shipping Company reached USD 0.7 million in the first nine months of 2009. Despite low market activity and the dramatic decline in shipping market freight rates, the achieved result can be assessed as satisfactory; at the same time it should be acknowledged that optimisation and cost cutting activities have played a significant role in promoting successful business operations.

JSC Ventspils nafta is the central holding company in a transit-oriented Group whose task is to manage the investments in subsidiaries by promoting the Group's overall value through growth in the value of each individual subsidiary.

JSC Ventspils nafta Group is working in the following areas: transhipment of crude oil and petroleum products; transport of crude oil and petroleum products by pipelines; a shipping business.