{"header":{"OB_REQUEST_ID":"3a4750c5-7633-44d3-8b8d-7c45439aa61e","result.val":0,"http.code":200,"result.text":"OK"},"data":{"message":{"id":297917,"messageId":297917,"newsId":251880,"title":"Statoil Fuel & Retail: challenging fourth quarter, but robust full year performance","body":"\n\n\n7 February 2012 - Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA's (\"Statoil Fuel & Retail\"; ticker:\nSFR) fourth quarter 2011 adjusted EBITDA was NOK 617 million compared with NOK\n729 million in 2010. Adjusted operating profit totalled NOK 333 million, which\nwas NOK 112 million lower than the same period in 2010. For the full year,\nadjusted EBITDA was NOK 3,021 million compared with NOK 3,393 million in 2010.\nReturn on Capital Employed (ROCE) in 2011 was 10.7 percent after tax.\n\n\"2011 was a challenging year for our industry, serving up everything from high\nrefined oil prices to intensified competition in some of our most important\ngrowth markets. Our 2011 results document that our operations are robust and\nable to withstand market fluctuations. This is directly thanks to the\nextraordinary expertise and efforts of our people,\" says Jacob Schram, CEO\nStatoil Fuel & Retail.\n\nStatoil Fuel & Retail's serious incident frequency (SIF - number of serious\nincidents per million manhours worked) was 1.8 for the fourth quarter of 2011,\ncompared with 2.9 for the same period in 2010 - reflecting a 77 percent decrease\nin the number of robberies. The full year 2011 SIF of 1.8 compared favourably\nwith 2.0 for 2010.\n\n2011: solid performance in difficult market conditions\n\nResults in the fourth quarter were impacted by the challenging market situation\nin Central and Eastern Europe, which continued to depress road transportation\nfuel unit margins. In Scandinavia there was an underlying gross profit\nimprovement per litre of transportation fuel in the fourth quarter to NOK 0.65\ncompared with NOK 0.63 in 2010. However, a revaluation of the fuel inventory\nrelated to previous periods in Scandinavia had an adverse affect on the fourth\nquarter results, causing the reported gross margin per litre to be lower than in\nthe same period last year. Fuel sales in the fourth quarter 2010 were\nparticularly high due to the extreme cold, resulting in the sale of road\ntransportation fuel as heating oil.\n\nStatoil Fuel & Retail's overall performance in 2011 was solid. Transportation\nfuel volumes remained on par with 2010 as the company maintained its leading\nposition in the Scandinavian fuel market and increased the number of its\nstations in Central and Eastern Europe. Gross profit for transportation fuel\nalso improved, as did convenience, compared with 2010. The cost savings\nprogramme delivered ahead of plan for the year, partially compensating for\nincreased standalone and separation costs.\n\n\"Our results reflect an underlying robust financial performance for Statoil Fuel\n& Retail in 2011, given the difficult market conditions in Central and Eastern\nEurope and our new standalone and separation costs,\" says Jacob Schram, CEO\nStatoil Fuel & Retail ASA. \"The Board of Directors' dividend proposal is in line\nwith our ambition of distributing at least 50 percent of our earnings per\nshare.\"\n\nKey figures for Statoil Fuel & Retail in the fourth quarter 2011\n\n\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------\n                              Q4 2011 Q4 2010 Full year 2011 Full year 2010\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------\nGross profit (NOK million)      2,386   2,721         10,035         10,532\n\nAdjusted EBITDA (NOK million)     617     729          3,021          3,393\n\nEarnings per share (NOK)         0.63    1.07           3.60           5.29\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nRobust Scandinavian growth in 2011\n\nStatoil Fuel & Retail continued to hold the leading position among fuel\nretailers in Scandinavia. Gross profit from road transportation fuel increased\nas a result of improved fuel unit margins compared with last year, following\nstrong micro market pricing management and the favourable development of refined\noil product prices in the second quarter 2011. Twelve new stations were opened\nduring the year, including three during the fourth quarter.\n\n\"Our  aim is to  further enhance our  leading position in Scandinavia, expanding\nour  network  with  new  stations  at  strategically  important locations,\" says\nSchram.  \"In the convenience market, we  will continue our successful efforts in\nsales, innovation and product development.\"\nPressure on fuel unit margins in Central and Eastern Europe\n\nGross profit for the fourth quarter declined compared with the fourth quarter\n2010 mainly due to lower contributions from road transportation fuel and a\ndecline in gross profit from convenience and other products. Major players\nholding back fuel prices at the pumps continued to put pressure on fuel unit\nmargins in Poland and Russia. In spite of positive development during the\nquarter, the gross profit per litre of road transportation fuel was somewhat\nlower than the same quarter last year. This downturn is also attributed to\nforeign exchange effects. Underlying gross profit for convenience increased in\nthe fourth quarter as a result of higher sales.\n\nFuel volumes for the full year were slightly higher in 2011 when compared with\n2010. Statoil Fuel & Retail added 51 stations to its full service and automat\nnetwork in the region in 2011.\n\nGross profit from convenience increased somewhat in 2011, mainly as a result of\nsuccessful marketing campaigns for MADE TO GO food line products and car wash.\n\n\"Current  economic  conditions  and  the  pace  of infrastructure development in\nCentral and Eastern Europe give us reason to expect further growth in demand for\nroad   transportation  fuel  in  the  region.  In  the  long  term,  the  market\nfundamentals  remain attractive. We stand by  our ambition to expand our station\nnetwork  in Central  and Eastern  Europe, targeting  40-50 new full  service and\nautomat stations in 2012,\" says Schram.\nSolid balance sheet and ROCE\n\nStatoil Fuel & Retail ended the year with a solid balance sheet. The company's\nequity ratio is at 32.1 percent.\n\nReturn on Capital Employed (ROCE) for 2011 was 10.7 percent after tax, the\nsecond best year ever for the company compared with 11.1 percent for 2010.\n\nChanges in pension plan\n\nStatoil Fuel & Retail ASA and Statoil Fuel & Retail Norge AS have redesigned\ntheir pension plan. The redesign involves closing the existing defined benefits\nplan to new employees and introducing a defined contributions plan for those\nemployed from 1 April 2012. These changes will be recognised in the income\nstatement in the first quarter 2012 and are expected to have an immediate\nimpact, reducing the net pension liability by approximately NOK 300 million.\nFuture service costs will be reduced following the change.\n\nDividend payout\n\nStatoil Fuel & Retail's ambition is to distribute at least 50 percent of its\nearnings per share. Based on this ambition, and taking into consideration\nexpected cash flow, capital expenditure plans, financing requirements and\nappropriate financial flexibility in times of significant macroeconomic\nuncertainty, the Board of Directors of Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA proposes to pay\na dividend of 50 percent of 2011 earnings per share, amounting to NOK 1.80 per\nshare.\nPlease find attached, at the bottom of this page, the fourth quarter 2011\nfinancial statements and review.\n\nContacts\n\nKaren Romer, SVP Communications Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA, +47 950 74 950,\nkarrom@statoilfuelretail.com\n\nMitra Hagen Negård, SVP Investor Relations Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA, Tel:\n+47 95 79 36 31, mine@statoilfuelretail.com\n\nPresentation, live webcast and telephone conference\n\nAt 09:00 CET on 7 February 2012, Statoil Fuel & Retail presents its results for\nthe fourth quarter 2011 at the company's headquarters at Sørkedalsveien 8, Oslo,\nNorway.\n\nThe presentation will be webcast live. For access to the webcast visit the\nInvestor centre on our website at www.statoilfuelretail.com. A dial-in number to\nparticipate via telephone conference will also be available on our website.\n\nAbout Statoil Fuel & Retail\n\nStatoil Fuel & Retail is a leading Scandinavian road transport fuel retailer\nwith over 100 years of operations in the region. We have a broad retail network\nacross Scandinavia, Poland, the Baltics, and Russia with approximately 2,300\nfull-service (fuel and convenience) or automated (fuel only) stations.\n\nStatoil Fuel & Retail's other products include stationary energy, marine fuel,\naviation fuel, lubricants and chemicals. In Europe, we operate 12 key terminals,\napproximately 400 road tankers and 50 depots in eight countries. We also deliver\naviation fuel at 85 airports in nine countries and produce and sell 750\ndifferent lubricant products.\n\nIncluding employees at Statoil branded franchise stations, about 17,000 people\nwork at our sites across Europe, while approximately 2,400 people work in our\ncorporate headquarters, our eight national headquarters, our terminals and\ndepots.\n\nThis information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section\n5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.\n\n\n[HUG#1583064] \n    ","category":[{"id":1002,"category_no":"HALVÅRSRAPPORT","category_en":"HALF YEAR FINANCIAL REPORT"}],"markets":["XOSL"],"issuerId":11206,"correctionForMessageId":0,"correctedByMessageId":0,"issuerSign":"SFR","issuerName":"Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA","instrId":0,"instrumentName":"","instrumentFullName":"","publishedTime":"2012-02-07T06:31:19.130Z","test":false,"numbAttachments":1,"attachments":[{"id":83239,"name":"Q4 2011 Financial statements and review.pdf"}],"clientAnnouncementId":"F315A5B3-E3BD-4CAB-84F7-5D354CBB6218","infoRequired":1,"oamMandatory":1}}}