Mol Met Its Financial Targets in 2024

Despite geopolitical tensions, weak global growth and changes in the regulatory environment, the Mol Group closed the 2024 financial year with a stable result, meeting its financial targets, the Group's CEO, Zsolt Hernádi said at the company's annual general meeting in Budapest on Thursday.

Zsolt Hernádi noted that despite the decline in the financial result, the targets were met, while significant successes were achieved in almost all business areas.

In the Central European region, Mol paid an extra USD 3.5 billion in taxes over the past three years at group level, on top of the normal business mix. Despite this, the group made a profit of HUF 355 billion last year, with the board of directors proposing a dividend of HUF 220 billion to the general meeting, he pointed out.

The CEO reported that in the exploration and production business, 11 out of 12 projects in the region were successful, and all drilling in Pakistan proved successful. In Azerbaijan, a new gas field had been discovered and cooperation agreements had been signed with three strategic partners: SOCAR of Azerbaijan, KazMunayGas of Kazakhstan and TPAO of Turkey.

The petrochemicals market in 2024 was hit by stagnant demand, high energy costs, declining margins and further tightening environmental regulations. Meanwhile, the global market has seen a proliferation of more modern and flexible new plants, posing a major challenge for European players, he added.

Mol has continued its transformation strategy started ten years ago: the EUR 1.3 billion polyol complex in Tiszaújváros started production in 2024, the region's largest green hydrogen plant in Százhalombatta started up and the modernization of the Rijeka refinery, Croatia's largest industrial investment, he continued.

Thanks to acquisitions in Slovenia and Poland, the number of Mol's filling stations has reached 2,400, creating a North-South energy corridor in Europe.

Last year, Mol entered the circular economy by adopting waste management, which was successfully set on a new course: in the second half of the year, 3,200 bottle return machines were installed, and in the last quarter the number of daily returns reached 6 million, with a target of 6 million by 2030," the CEO said.

In the next ten years, an investment of around HUF 500 billion is planned in the waste management sector, he said, adding that the aim in this business is to create shareholder value and to operate profitably.