OMV Petrom Group posted a net profit worth 1.28 billion lei in the first half of this year (S1), up 6% from the same period in 2017, when the posted result was of 1.21 billion lei, according to financial data released Thursday by the company.

Earnings per share was of RON 0.0227, up 6% in S1 2018.

For second quarter (Q2), the company posted a 27% decrease in profits, to 434 million lei, compared to 592 million lei in Q2 2017.

OMV Petrom’s operating result increased 13% in the first six months of this year, to 1.781 billion lei, while the operating profit excluding special items was of 1.694 billion lei, stable compared to the same period last year, the Upstream segment having the largest contribution, according to Agerpres.

The value of consolidated sales increased by 6% compared to the first half of 2017, to 9.851 billion lei, supported by higher crude oil and gas prices, as well as higher volumes of electricity sold, which counterbalanced lower volumes of petroleum products and natural gas sold, as well as lower sales prices for electricity. Downstream Oil sales accounted for 75% of total sales and Downstream Gas sales accounted for 22%.

In the first six months of this year, the company made investments worth RON 2,102 billion, up 130% from the first semester of last year. The number of OMV Petrom employees lowered by 6%, respectively to 13,421 persons, at the end of June 2018.

The Austrian OMV Group is the majority shareholder of Petrom with a 51.01% stake, while the Ministry of Economy holds a stake of 20.64% of the shares and the Proprietatea Fund, of 20.11%.