Neste.com
uncategorized · 2/15/2006

SUCCESSFUL FIRST YEAR FOR NESTE OIL

The market in 2005 was favorable for an oil refiner with complex refining capacity. Product prices remained at historically high levels, reflecting the increasing global demand for high-quality traffic fuels and high crude prices. Neste Oil recorded a strong full-year profit and cash flow, despite a record-high level of capital expenditure and a scheduled major maintenance shutdown at its Porvoo refinery in Finland.
 
In April, Neste Oil was demerged from its former parent company and listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. The company attracted a lot of interest from investors from the start and the share price closed the year up by 65%.
 
2005 in brief:
* Comparable operating profit of EUR 525 million (carve-out 2004: 584 million)
* Operating profit of EUR 791 million (carve-out 2004: 713 million)
* Earnings per share of EUR 2.60 (carve-out 2004: 2.37)
* Cash flow from operations of EUR 596 million (carve-out 2004: 537 million)
* Sale of SeverTEK in line with strategic focus on oil refining
* Diesel Project on schedule, construction of biodiesel plant started
* The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of EUR 0.80 per share
 
President & CEO Risto Rinne:
"Last year was a successful one for Neste Oil. This provided us with the muscle to finance our investment program and to reduce our net debt. In addition, we achieved several important milestones, including the listing of the company in April, a five-week scheduled shutdown at Porvoo, and progressed with our key investment projects designed to increase diesel and biodiesel production. Looking into 2006, successful commissioning of the Diesel Project will be our largest challenge. It will also be very important to make swift progress on the biodiesel projects and see through an efficient maintenance shutdown at the Naantali refinery. I have every reason to believe that the market will continue to be favorable for us in 2006, as we continue with our strategy of focusing on high-quality fuels for cleaner traffic."
 
Further information:
 
Risto Rinne, President & CEO, tel. +358 10 458 4990
Petri Pentti, CFO, tel. +358 10 458 4490
 
News conference and conference call
 
A press conference in Finnish on the 2005 results will be held today, 15 February 2006, at 11:30 am EET in the Mirror Room at Hotel Kämp, Pohjoisesplanadi 29, Helsinki. www.nesteoil.com will feature English versions of the presentation materials.
A conference call in English for investors and analysts will be held today, 15 February 2006, at 3:00 pm EET. The call-in numbers are as follows: UK: +44 (0)207 162 0025, US: +1 334 323 6201. Use the password: Neste Oil. An instant replay of the call will be available until 20 February 2006 at +44 (0) 207 031 4064 for the UK and +1 954 334 0342 for the US, using access code 691706.  

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