MADRID, July 28 (Reuters) - Spain's second-largest oil refiner Moeve, formerly known as Cepsa, said on Monday its net profit fell 19% in the first half of the year mainly due to the impact of a massive power blackout in April in Spain and Portugal on its refineries.
Its net income dropped to 324 million euros ($378 million), while earnings before interest, taxes, amortisation and depreciation fell 33% from a year ago to 733 million euros ($855.92 million).
The company attributed the core profit's decline mainly to the cost of halting and restarting its two oil refineries during and after the April 28 blackout. It can take one or two weeks for such plants to be fully operational after shutdowns.
The Moeve refineries also halted for scheduled maintenance during the first six months of this year, which further reduced utilisation ratios.
The company did not release an estimate of the cost of the outage, though rival Repsol, which operates five refineries in Spain, said the blackout and other smaller power-supply issues cost it 175 million euros in the second quarter.
Owned by Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala and U.S.-based private equity firm the Carlyle Group , Moeve rebranded last year to reflect its shift towards low-carbon businesses under an 8-billion-euro plan. It has sold 70% of its oil production assets since 2022, including operations in Abu Dhabi and South America.
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Reporting by Inti Landauro
Source: Reuters