Serbia's NIS returns to profit in first quarter

Published on 18. May 2011., Uncategorized

 

Serbian oil firm NIS said on Tuesday higher output and sales helped it post a first-quarter net profit of 9.8 billion Serbian dinars ($140.6 million) versus a 4.5 billion dinar loss in the same period of 2010.

NIS, majority owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft, said its first-quarter revenue rose to 36.7 billion dinars from 27.4 billion a year before.

“We are now safely on the recovery track and very pleased with the results that were achieved mainly on the back of higher production volume, cost cuts and sales development,” NIS Chief Executive Kirill Kravchenko said in a statement published on the company’s web site.

NIS had earlier said it aimed to triple crude output and almost double sales by 2020 in its drive to become the regional market leader.