Austria's OMV records lower first quarter energy prices

(Reuters) - Austrian oil and gas group OMV on Tuesday said average realised prices for energy declined over the first three months of the year, tracking a 3.4% quarterly drop in the average realised price of crude.

"Compared to (the fourth quarter of 2023), retail and commercial margins decreased substantially," OMV said in a first-quarter trading update.

The average realised price for natural gas fell by 18.3% to 21.9 euros per MWh, it added.

OMV's European refining reference margin was 8.5% higher on a quarterly basis but down 27.34% year-on-year.

Petrochemical margins were mixed, with ethylene and propylene indicators falling by around a tenth each, while reference margins for polyethylene and polypropylene rose by 29% and 22% respectively.

OMV's chemicals division, viewed as a growth engine for the company as it moves away from polluting fossil fuels, produces chemicals used in gas and water pipes, car parts and medical syringes, among other things.

"It is a mixed set of results for the quarter" Tamás Pletser, Erste Group analyst, wrote, adding that he expects profitability to be similar to or slightly below the fourth quarter level.

OMV will publish its full first-quarter results on April 30.

(Reporting by Tristan Veyet and Chiara Holzhaeuser in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi, Kirsten Donovan)