Czech refinery Unipetrol reports halved 2006 profit

The Czech Republic's biggest petrochemicals and refinery company, Unipetrol, blamed exceptional write-offs on Thursday for a 52.7-percent drop in 2006 group net profit to 1.62 billion crowns (75.7 million dollars). The company, in which Polish state-owned refinery giant PKN Orlen has a 62.9-percent stake, said it had incurred one off losses totalling 2 billion crowns in the sales of non-refinery businesses, such as chemical company Spolana and rubber producer, Kaucuk. Operating profit for the group fell 30.0 percent on a 12-month comparison to 3.565 billion crowns.