MOL Group has announced a pre-tax profit of $1.3 billion for the year 2025, reflecting an 11% increase compared to the previous year. This growth was primarily driven by robust performance in its downstream and retail sectors, which effectively mitigated the adverse effects of weaker upstream conditions amid a fluctuating global market.
The company faced challenges in its exploration and production segment due to lower oil and gas prices, which impacted profitability despite maintaining solid output levels. In contrast, the refining and consumer services divisions played a crucial role in enhancing overall profitability, benefiting from favorable market dynamics and improved operational efficiencies.
Chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi highlighted that MOL managed to maintain operational stability despite facing supply chain disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and technical challenges. In the last quarter of 2025, MOL undertook significant strategic initiatives, including a transition to a holding structure, expansion of its renewable energy portfolio within Hungary, and an increase in hydrocarbon production nearing 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Recent incidents such as a fire at the Danube Refinery and ongoing disruptions along the Druzhba pipeline have underscored the vulnerabilities of landlocked nations to supply shocks. These events have reinforced the necessity for diversified crude sources and transport routes to enhance resilience against such disruptions.
In terms of downstream operations, refining margins surpassed expectations due to favorable external conditions, successfully offsetting lower throughput levels and weaker petrochemical results compared to previous years. While upstream operations experienced pressure from declining commodity prices, increased production volumes from Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Kurdistan region of Iraq contributed positively to stabilizing overall output.
Fourth-quarter hydrocarbon production exceeded 99.4 million barrels of oil equivalent, with an annual average reaching 94.7 million barrels—exceeding MOL’s guidance range of 92-94 million barrels. Looking ahead to 2026, MOL anticipates production levels between 95 million and 97 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The consumer services sector demonstrated continuous growth driven by both fuel and non-fuel activities. Fuel margins remained strong particularly in Croatia and Romania, complemented by improving performance in non-fuel segments during the fourth quarter. The company’s Fresh Corner retail concept expanded significantly to 1,409 locations by year-end, achieving a quarterly growth rate of 2.7% and an annual increase of 6% compared to 2024. Notably, non-fuel activities accounted for 35.6% of total retail margins in the fourth quarter.
Gas midstream operations remained relatively stable year-on-year; increased demand for transmission services was largely counterbalanced by lower regulated prices while transported volumes remained resilient despite less favorable market conditions.
MOL Group reiterated that its integrated business model has been instrumental in navigating through market volatility while sustaining profitability and advancing strategic priorities effectively.
