OMV Raises Clean Operating Result 68% to €2.117 Billion in Third Quarter
Key Facts
OMV said its clean operating result under CCS reached €2.117 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 68% year on year, as revenue from continuing operations rose 43% to €8.959 billion. Chief Executive Emma Delaney said, "Fuels and energy were the main drivers of earnings, while chemicals made a lower contribution, which also reflects a change in the scope of consolidation." Clean CCS net income attributable to the parent company’s shareholders was €1.153 billion, up 94%, while earnings per share on the same basis increased 95% to €3.54. Cash flow from operating activities also rose 101% to €2.199 billion. Excluding the impact of working capital, operating cash flow was €2.334 billion, up 57% from the same quarter a year earlier.
The jump was driven mainly by the fuels segment, whose clean operating result under CCS rose to €1.124 billion from €413 million in the third quarter of 2025. OMV’s European refining indicator margin more than tripled, reaching $37.50 per barrel compared with $11.5 a year earlier. The company attributed this to tighter refined-product supplies amid the conflict in the Middle East and the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while renewed attacks on Russian refining facilities further tightened the global balance. OMV’s European refinery utilization rate was 92%, up one percentage point year on year. Improved refining offset a decline in retail’s contribution, which the company said reflected weaker margins after international oil-product prices rose following the conflict with Iran.
Energy’s contribution also increased, with its clean operating result reaching €936 million, up 51% from €622 million in the corresponding quarter of 2025. OMV said the positive market effect was €515 million, reflecting higher realized oil and gas prices. The average realized oil price was $94 per barrel, up 41% year on year, while the average realized natural gas price was €49.24 per megawatt-hour, up 80%. But the company said volumes declined after logistical constraints prevented it from lifting cargoes from the Middle East. The price effect offset the decline in volumes, according to its statement.
By contrast, the chemicals segment’s result fell to €63 million from €222 million in the third quarter of 2025. The company said the quarter saw broad corrections in global olefin and polyolefin prices, after benchmark prices in the previous quarter reflected a global supply shortage. The European ethylene indicator margin was €675 per ton, up 18% year on year, while the propylene margin was €604 per ton, up 35%. OMV’s steam cracker utilization rate was about 82%, up 3 percentage points year on year. Net debt was €4.403 billion, while the gearing ratio stood at 17% at quarter-end.
At group level, ADNOC Refining & Trading’s contribution rose to €158 million, compared with €52 million in the corresponding quarter a year earlier, supported by high utilization rates and a strong refining-margin environment. The result highlights the widening gap between OMV’s segments, with fuels and energy rising while chemicals declined during the period. Energy’s result in the second quarter of 2026 was €885 million, up 50% year on year, while the fuels segment recorded €446 million, up 85%. The European refining margin at the time was $20.33 per barrel, up 152% from the second quarter of 2025. In the third quarter, the indicator margin rose to $37.50 per barrel, strongly supporting the fuels result compared with the previous period.
OMV raised its forecast for average Brent in 2026 to more than $95 per barrel, from a previous range of $85 to $95, and increased its estimate for organic capital expenditure to about €3.5 billion from about €3.4 billion. The company expects the average realized gas price to be about €45 per megawatt-hour and the THE price to exceed €55; its previous estimates were about €40 and €50, respectively. It raised its estimate for the European refining indicator margin to about $25 per barrel from about $20, while expecting European refinery utilization to exceed 90%. It expects hydrocarbon production of about 290 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared with a previous range of 280 thousand to 290 thousand and production of 305 thousand in 2025. The company said its production estimate remains subject to geopolitical developments.
EL7 data showed OMVKY shares closed at $20.38 on October 28, 2026, before the results announcement. The company had scheduled publication of its nine-month results for October 29 at 07:00 Central European Time, with a presentation at 11:30 the same day. This timing places the results release within the financial calendar the company had announced in advance. The higher Brent, gas and refining forecasts come as OMV linked the strength of its fuels results to tighter refined-product supplies. The company explicitly tied its 2026 hydrocarbon production estimate to geopolitical developments.