The company’s top management yesterday commented on its 2000 performance (relatively uninteresting) and its business outlook. Unipetrol expects both profit and revenues to fall this year due to lower margins and a weaker crown against the dollar. Based on company expectations of the oil price at about USD 27-28 per barrel, the group’s revenues should decline from last year’s CZK 73.4 bil. to CZK 70 bil. this year, and consolidated pre-tax profit from CZK 6 bil. to around CZK 4 bil. These figures suggest a slightly worse performance than our own Unipetrol projections.
(Jan Hájek)