Motor Oil Greece profit tumbles on tax, forex, beats estimate

First-half profit at Motor Oil, Greece's second-biggest refiner, dropped 81% year on year to 19.6 mln euros as austerity taxes and adverse forex moves hurt business, Greece's second-biggest refiner said on Tuesday.
Motor Oil was hit by a 12.9 mln euro one-off corporate tax imposed by Greece's cash-strapped government. Results were also affected by hedging losses of 57 mln euros due to the rise of the dollar versus the euro, and the lower value of the company's oil inventories.
The result beat analysts' average estimate of 17.8 mln euros in a Reuters poll of analysts as the company's refining margin, adjusted for inventories, rose to 63.4 dollars per metric tonne compared with 62.7 dollars last year.
Motor Oil derives about 90% of its profit from its sole refinery near Athens. To lessen its dependence on the plant, the company is expanding into electricity and bought last year the Greek service stations of Royal Dutch Shell.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) slipped to 86.1 mln euros from 153.6 mln, also above analysts' estimate of 82 mln euros.