Motor Oil to post Q4 profit on new unit

Motor Oil, Greece's second-biggest refiner, is expected to swing to a profit in the fourth quarter, helped by a new distillation unit, a Reuters poll of analysts showed.
Motor Oil is seen reporting net income of 32.7 mln euros on Wednesday versus a loss of 17.5 mln euros in the same period last year, according to the average forecast of nine analysts.
Earnings in the fourth quarter of 2009 included a charge of about 16 mln euros related to tax audits and an austerity levy imposed by Greece's cash-strapped government.
For full-year 2010, net profit is seen down 7.2% at 100 million euros, hurt by recession at home.
But sales volume picked up in the second half after the completion of a new distillation unit and rising demand for petroleum products, particularly in Turkey.
Motor Oil shares have gained 14% so far this year, slightly outperforming the main Athens benchmark index, which has advanced 12% over the same period.
The stock trades at about 10.1 times estimated 2010 earnings per share, ThomsonReuters I/B/E/S estimates data show, compared with a multiple of 12.6 for domestic rival Hellenic Petroleum.