OMV decides on action plan to safeguard financial strength

• Reduce organic investments by around EUR 500 mn to below EUR 2 bn in 2020
• Cut costs by around EUR 200 mn
• Pay for Borealis acquisition in two tranches: more than EUR 2 bn not due until end of 2021
• Postpone EUR 1.5 bn-worth of projects to 2022

The global spread of the coronavirus has abruptly transformed people’s lives and significantly worsened the economic environment. OMV is responding to this situation with targeted measures to safeguard the company’s economic stability and the secure supply of energy. The health and wellbeing of every employee is the top priority.

Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV: “We made provisions for every employee to work from home parallel to the national exit restrictions in movement. Employees who are critical to the business or supply security are the only ones working in the field and they are subject to stringent safety and hygiene standards – to protect them and to protect all of our partners and customers”.

At the same time, OMV is implementing targeted measures to safeguard the company’s financial strength. In this context, the Executive Board has approved an action plan of more than EUR 4 bn for the year 2020. This includes: 

• Reduction of around EUR 500 mn in organic investments to below EUR 2 bn in 2020. This is a reduction of more than 20 % compared with the originally planned investments of EUR 2.4 billion for 2020;
• Cutting costs by around EUR 200 mn compared to 2019 (OPEX and exploration expenditures); 
• Payment of the purchase price for the additional 39 % share in Borealis in two tranches, whereby more than EUR 2 bn will not be due until the end of 2021. The effective closing date of this transaction is unaffected;
• Postponing investment and acquisition projects totaling EUR 1.5 bn, in particular the interest in Achimov 4/5 in Russia.

“These measures will safeguard OMV’s ability to act in this challenging situation. Specially established task forces are monitoring developments very closely in order to make any necessary strategic adjustments at the right time”, said Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV.

Background information:

OMV Aktiengesellschaft
OMV produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of around 20,000 employees in 2019, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Central and Eastern Europe as well as a balanced international portfolio, with Middle East & Africa, the North Sea, Russia, and Asia-Pacific as further core regions. Daily average production was 487,000 boe/d in 2019. In Downstream, OMV operates three refineries in Europe and owns a 15% share in ADNOC Refining and Trading JV, with a total annual processing capacity of 24.9 mn tons. Furthermore, OMV has a 36% participation in Borealis, one of the world’s leading producers of polyolefins. The Company operates about 2,100 filling stations in ten European countries. OMV runs gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany; its subsidiary Gas Connect Austria GmbH operates a gas pipeline network in Austria. In 2019, gas sales volumes amounted to around 137 TWh. Sustainability is an integral part of OMV’s corporate strategy. OMV supports the transition to a lower-carbon economy and has set measurable targets for reducing carbon intensity and introducing new energy and petrochemical solutions.