* Q2 net loss 359 mln crowns, vs forecast loss of 272 mln
* Q3 could be better, but market conditions tough
* CEO says 2009 operating profit still possible
* Shares fall 5.6 percent, Prague index up
(Updates with comment, shares)
By Jan Korselt and Jason Hovet
PRAGUE, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Czech downstream oil company
Unipetrol <>, hit by reduced demand, posted a wider
than expected second-quarter loss, hitting its shares, but held
out hope cost cuts could lead to an operating profit this year.
Unipetrol lost 359 million crowns ($20 million) in the
April-June period as the economic downturn in central Europe hit
demand for petrochemical products.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a net loss of 272
million crowns for its third quarterly loss in a row.
Unipetrol shares fell 5.6 percent to 131.7 crowns by 1200
GMT, underperforming a 2.7 percent gain in Prague's index <>.
"The performance of Unipetrol will be weak also in the
coming quarters, influenced by the generally weak macroeconomic
conditions," said Petr Novak, analyst from Atlantik FT.
Unipetrol, the country's largest refiner and 63 percent
owned by Polish refiner PKN Orlen <PKNA.WA>, started putting in
place a 1 billion crown cost cutting package, including plans to
cut 8 percent of workforce, at the end of the first quarter.
Chief executive Krzysztof Urbanowicz said the plans could
lift the group into positive earnings by the end of the year.
"We as the management are striving to get into positive
results at the end of this year," he told reporters. "If we had
not made this optimisation plan, we obviously would have made
quite a big loss."
Unipetrol swung to an operating loss of 271 million crowns,
wider than the 232 million loss expected by analysts but better
than a 1.26 billion loss in the fourth quarter.
Revenue fell 42 percent year-on-year to 15.8 billion crowns,
with petrochemical sales volumes falling 16 percent. Unipetrol
said the third quarter should be better than April-June, but
that a real recovery was still a ways off.
"In the next quarter, Unipetrol will continue to face
unfavourable conditions, which are characterised by a weak and
only slowly stabilizing market," Unipetrol said in a release.
The petrochemicals segment, the largest contributor to
earnings, was seeing improvement, but questions remained on
margins in the refinery segment, which fell 81 percent annually
in the second quarter, Urbanowicz said.
Unipetrol shares have lost 8.6 percent since January,
lagging an overall recovery in the Prague index. Over the past
12 months, the stock has slumped a third in value.
PKN Orlen, which has quashed speculation in the past week
that it was looking to sell Unipetrol, posted a 33 percent fall
in second-quarter net profit, but bettered market expectations
due to one-off gains. [] []
(Writing by Jason Hovet; Editing by Mike Nesbit and Dan Lalor)
($1 = 17.73 Czech crowns)
