Operating profit increased by 13% to EUR 112.2m and EBITDA was 11% higher, at EUR 159.6m, shows the annual report released via the Ljubljana Stock Exchange after being endorsed by the supervisory board.

The company's performance in its core business activities - energy and trade - was termed as very successful.

The group sold 3.4m tonnes of oil products, 5% more than in 2016. Revenue from merchandise sales increased by 7% to EUR 538.3m.

At the end of 2017 the group operated 495 service stations, of which 317 in Slovenia, 106 in Croatia, 38 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 in Serbia, 11 in Montenegro and 11 in Kosovo.

In the annual report, chairman Tomaž Berločnik also noted the increasingly important online sales.

Employing 4,508 people, the group "was also successful in ensuring a comprehensive supply of all energy products and in providing energy and environmental services," the report reads.

The group also sold 1.3 TWh of natural gas, 151,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, 21.0 TWh of electricity and 140,800 MWh of heat.

The bulk of the revenue and profit was generated by the core company Petrol, which has a 57% market share in the Slovenian fuel retail market.

The core company generated EUR 3.7bn in revenue, an increase of 18% on 2016, while increasing net earnings by 47% to EUR 64.3m.

The goal for 2018 is to increase group net profit to EUR 86.9m on roughly the same sales revenue as this year.