Petrom lost €5 bln on the stock exchange in 7 months

The oil company’s capitalization dropped to €5.72 billion from €10.2 billion in July 2007. Austrian OMV group’s 51 percent participation in Petrom is now worth €2.91 bln, almost twice as much at it paid for the takeover in 2004.

“Petrom will continue to be influenced by the evolution of the market, which is presently subject to a negative trend. Furthermore, the evolution of the company is also linked to a possibility of employees buying an 8 percent share package for a very low price,” said Razvan Pasol, President of the Intercapital Invest brokerage company.

Petrom shares reached RON 0.367 per unit in Friday’s session, down 40 percent compared to their high prior to the global financial crisis. Petrom is due to announce financial results for 2007 on 26 February. Analysts of the Raiffeisen Capital&Investment brokerage company are estimating a consolidated profit worth €549 mln on turnover of €3.7 bln.

Petrom reported a profit of €470 mln for the first nine months in 2007, and turnover of €2.63 bln.