Today MOL Group announced its financial results for H1 and Q2 2021. In the first six months MOL Group delivered USD 1,559mn EBITDA while in Q2 Clean CCS EBITDA jumped by 153% year-on-year to an all-time high USD 893mn, driven by stronger oil macro, record high petrochemical margins and the easing of Covid-related restrictions with a subsequent positive effect on sales volumes. Strong Q2 EBITDA allows MOL Group to raise its 2021 full year guidance to „around USD 3 bn” from „around USD 2.3 bn”.

“We delivered USD 893mn Clean CCS EBITDA during the second quarter, which in turn means we are upgrading our guidance for the full year to around USD 3bn from the previous USD 2.3bn. Looking ahead, I am very pleased with the progress we are making on key projects as we execute our strategic plans on our path towards 2030 and beyond,” said chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi.

Downstream Q2 Clean CCS EBITDA increased by 305% year-on-year to USD 447mn, boosted by very strong petrochemical performance while refining margins gradually recovered from the lows of Q2 2020. In H1 2021, Downstream generated 73% better result than in the same period last year. The strong Downstream result was primarily driven by outstanding performance in petrochemicals, which saw its integrated petchem margin reaching an all-time high of EUR 1035.8/t during April. Downstream became the largest cash contributor to the Group in Q2 with USD 307mn free cash-flow generation As for the ongoing investments, the polyol project exceeded 84% overall completion at the end of Q2.

Upstream EBITDA jumped to USD 336mn in Q2, amounted exactly three times higher than a year ago and H1 result came in at USD 645mn that means a 117% increase since the same period last year, driven by the continuously higher oil and gas prices. Oil and gas production volume decreased slightly by 5% compared to Q1 2021 to 111.2 mboepd, due to the maintenance in UK, natural decline in the UK and CEE and lower ACG net entitlement production affected by the higher oil prices. Upstream is still one of the largest cash contributors of the Group, as simplified free cash flow rose year-on-year, as well as quarter-on quarter to USD 230mn in Q2.

Consumer Services reached an all-time high Q2 EBITDA in Q2 2021, increasing by 48% year-on-year to USD 164mn. The excellent performance resulted in strong free cash-flow, generating USD 230mn in the first half of the year, 50% more than a year ago. The easing of pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions in MOL’s core CEE countries had a positive effect on sales volumes and non-fuel margin. Non-fuel margin increased by 34% in Q2, driven by strong performance across a broad category range in the Hungarian, Romanian, Czech and Slovakian markets. Total sales volumes increased by 25% year-on-year in Q2 as a result of increased travel activity following easing of restrictions. In Q2 2021, MOL together with its subsidiary INA, agreed to acquire OMV Slovenia, including 120 service stations and the wholesale operation. The number of Fresh Corner sites rose to 1,008 in Q2 from 984 in Q1 2021.

Gas Midstream Q2EBITDA fell by 48% to USD 23mn compared to the same period last year, as both transit revenues and regulated income fell as a result of materially decreased crossborder capacity and transmission demand. Domestic transmission volumes increased by 32% in Q2 year-on-year, while export transmission volumes (to Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Slovakia) decreased significantly by almost 87%.