Net revenue of the core company was up 1% to EUR 3.2bn, while net profit dropped by 12% to EUR 30.2m, according to the business report reviewed by Petrol supervisors on Thursday.

Both the group and the core company saw an increase in operating profit last year. The group's operating profit climbed 10% to EUR 93.8m, while the core company's operating profit was up 16% to EUR 77.9m.

The supervisory board and Petrol CEO Tomaž Berločnik share the view that Petrol has had a successful year. "2013 was a trial for our business but we managed to shape the curve to our advantage by responding to challenges each day," Berločnik said.

The group sold a total of 2.8bn tonnes of oil products last year, which was 9% more than in 2012 and 7% above plans. It also sold 121.8 million cubic metres of natural gas, 68,500 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, 4.9 terawatt hours of electricity and 67,900 megawatt hours of heat.

57% of the group's revenue was created in Slovenia, 18% elsewhere in the EU and 25% in SE Europe. The revenue generated in Slovenia dropped by 1%, but Berločnik said that this was easily replaced with a 13% increase generated in SE Europe. An even bigger increase - 44% - was seen in EU markets.

Merchandise revenue was up 1% to EUR 474.8m, which was however 5% below plans. Oil trade accounts for EUR 453.7m in revenue, while the sales of wood biomass and heat pumps generated EUR 21.1m.

The supervisory board also discussed the group's projections until 2018, when Petrol expects to generate EUR 4.4bn in revenue, EUR 174m in operating profit and EUR 93m in net profit.

At the end of 2013 Petrol operated 476 petrol services; 319 of them in Slovenia, 97 in Croatia, 37 in Bosnia-Herzegovina, eight in each Serbia and Montenegro and seven in Kosovo.