Report
Kamil Kliszcz

Gas & Oil - Attractive Valuations on Mid-Cycle Earnings

Oil stocks have been able to reclaim much of the ground lost in the coronavirus pandemic on the back of vaccine optimism, but at the current levels they are still about 20-30% off what they were this time last year. Current valuations seem undemanding, but against the current backdrop investors should be aware that the earliest the sector can be expected to bring profits back to 2019 levels is probably in 2023. In a baseline scenario where energy prices stay high, refining margins recover and installations get rewarded for complexity, and where sales profits on petrochemicals and on fuel retailing decline and emissions costs continue to rise, the investment that is likely to deliver the most operating leverage, and that we continue to rate as a buy, is Lotos. Hungary’s MOL is another bullish story in our view because it offers a balance of upstream/downstream exposure while trading at relatively attractive multiples. The least favorite in our oil universe is PKN Orlen, whose profits have a negative correlation with prices of natural gas, and which has just embarked on a capital-intensive program that is going keep free cash flow in the negative territory for three years.

Underlyings
Grupa LOTOS S.A.

Grupa Lotos is an oil concern which deals with oil extraction and processing and trading of high quality oil products. Co. supplies the market with, unleaded petrol, diesel oil, fuel oil, aviation fuel, industrial oil, asphalt and paraffin, among other things. Co. is engaged in the production and sales of engine oils and bitumen in Poland. Co. maintains oil exploration and production activities in the Baltic, North Sea and Norwegian Sea and operates three refineries in Gdansk, Jaslo and Czechowice, Poland. Co. markets its products in wholesale markets, as well as in retail markets through a network of petrol stations.

MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas Plc Class A

Magyar Olaj-Es Gazipari is an integrated oil and gas enterprise based in Hungary and active in central and eastern Europe. Co.'s core activities include: exploration and production of crude oil, natural gas and gas products; refining, transportation, storage and distribution of crude oil products in both retail and wholesale markets; importation, transportation, storage and wholesale trading of natural gas and other gas products; and the production and sale of olefins and polyolefins. TVK, the petrochemical affiliate of Co., is an olefin and polyolefin producer in Hungary.

Polski Koncern Naftowy ORLEN S.A.

Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen's activities are divided into three main business segments: the Refining Segment that comprises crude oil processing as well as wholesale and retail trade in refinery products. The Petrochemical Segment that encompasses production and sale of petrochemicals and chemicals. The Retail Segment that comprises of sales at petrol stations. Co.'s basic products include gasolines, diesel oils, light heating oil, Jet fuel, liquid gas, polyetylene, polypropylene, benzene, butadiene, acetone, phenol, glycols, toluen, ortoxylene.

Provider
mBank
mBank

Set up in 1986, mBank (originally BRE – Export Development Bank) is Poland’s 4th largest universal banking group in terms of total assets and 5th by net loans and deposits at the end of June 2019. mBank has one of the oldest brokerages in Poland – we have been providing brokerage services since 1991 - and the biggest, serving about 300 ths clients.

We provide all brokerage services available in the Polish capital market (i.e. Warsaw Stock Exchange, non-public markets and forex) in a way that meets the expectations of all groups of investors, both individual and institutional. Participating in the dynamic growth of the Polish capital market since its inception, we have acquired competences and experience needed to provide the highest quality of service and we have won the trust and satisfaction of our Clients.

Over the past decade, mBank's Equity Research Team has been consistently ranked among the top research teams in Parkiet's annual institutional investor surveys (Parkiet is Poland's leading daily business newspaper). mBank analysts provide coverage on an extensive list of companies, mainly in Poland but also elsewhere in the CEE region: Austria, Czechia, Portugal, Ukraine and Hungary. 

Clients get access to a comprehensive selection of research products including daily market insights, monthly roundups, macroeconomic views, industry- and company- specific analyses, investing strategies, earnings comments, etc.

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  • Get direct access to senior management teams at listed companies (over 30 meetings in 2018),
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Analysts
Kamil Kliszcz

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