Eni loses market share in Italy; net profit down 46% in first quarter
Italy-based oil company Eni said in a statement issued April 29 that its net profit in the first quarter of 2014 was 0.7 billion euros, down 46% from the first quarter of a year earlier, adding that it has lost market share in Italy since last year.
"All mid-downstream businesses have returned to profitability benefitting from our actions as well as the positive trading environment, thus proving the effectiveness of the upgrading initiatives implemented so far," said Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer of Eni.
The company added that its European refining business continued to be affected by structural headwinds from lower demand, overcapacity and increasing competitive pressure from streams of oil products imported from Russia, Asia and the United States “with more efficient cost structures”.
Retail sales in Italy were 1.35 million tonnes, down by 6.9% mainly driven by strong competitive pressure. Eni’s retail market share fell 1.7 percentage points to 24% in the first quarter of 2015, compared with nearly 26% in the same quarter of the previous year.
Retail sales in the rest of Europe in the first quarter of 2015 were slightly lower due to decreasing volumes sold in Eastern Europe.
