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REGISTRATION NO. 333-49315
FILED PURSUANT TO RULE 424(b)(3)
Supplement to the Proxy Statement/Prospectus dated July 16, 1998
PETROFINA
This Prospectus Supplement of PetroFina ("PetroFina" or "Parent") updates,
modifies and amends, and is intended to be a part of, and read together with,
the accompanying Prospectus dated July 16, 1998 (the "Prospectus"). Capitalized
terms used in the Prospectus Supplement without definition shall have the
meanings given them in the Prospectus.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Set forth below is a description of certain significant developments
relating to PetroFina.
MERGER OF FINA, INC.
On August 5, 1998, Fina, Inc. (the "Company") held a special meeting of
stockholders to vote on the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of February
17, 1998, as amended (the "Merger Agreement") and merger (the "Merger") pursuant
to which the Company would become an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent.
The Merger Agreement and Merger were approved by 29,905,856 of the 31,247,172
shares of common stock, par value US $.50 per share ("Shares") then outstanding.
As of August 5, 1998 the Company is 100% owned by Petrofina Delaware,
Incorporated, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent.
Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, each Share outstanding immediately prior
to the effective time of the Merger (other than Shares owned by Parent or its
subsidiaries and Shares for which a stockholder exercised appraisal rights) was
converted into the right to receive (A) US $60 plus (B) one warrant (a
"PetroFina Warrant") to purchase nine-tenths (0.9) of one American Depositary
Share (a "PetroFina ADS"), each PetroFina ADS representing one-tenth (0.1) of
one ordinary voting share of Parent. The PetroFina Warrants are exercisable
until the close of business on August 5, 2003 and have an exercise price of US
$42.25 per PetroFina ADS, subject to adjustment. Thus, a holder of 10 PetroFina
Warrants may purchase nine PetroFina ADSs for an aggregate purchase price of US
$380.25. The PetroFina Warrants are listed on The New York Stock Exchange, Inc.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS FOR SIX-MONTHS ENDING JUNE 30, 1998
On August 11, 1998, PetroFina released its results for the six months
ending June 30, 1998.
Those results are summarized below. The results for 1998 are set forth (and
results for 1997 have been restated) in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
PetroFina's consolidated recurring profit for the first six months of 1998
amounted to BEF 10.96 billion, comparable with BEF 11.04 billion for the first
half of 1997.
PetroFina's consolidated unaudited profit for the first half of 1998
amounted to BEF 9.71 billion compared to BEF 10.95 billion for the first half of
1997. The results of the first half of 1998 include capital gains of BEF 2.7
billion, arising mainly from the sale of Upstream assets in the United States
and Downstream assets in Africa, a write-down of BEF 4.3 billion in the value of
stock as a result of a decline in oil prices, as well as other non-recurring
results of BEF 0.2 billion.
Cash flow increased 10% from BEF 28.1 billion in the first half of 1997 to
BEF 31 billion for the six-months ending June 30, 1998. Financial debt at the
end of June 1998 was BEF 92.7 billion compared to BEF 95.3 billion a year
earlier.
During the six months ending June 30, 1998, the performance of the
Downstream sector was sustained by higher refining margins in Europe,
appreciation of the dollar, excellent operations and growth in sales through the
Fina network. However, the downstream sector was subject to the negative impact
of realized inventory losses of BEF 1.7 billion.
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In the Upstream sector, the negative impact on the results of a 43% fall in
oil prices was partially offset by higher production of oil and gas, and the
strength of the gas prices in the United States.
In the Chemicals sector, the buoyancy of monomers in Europe and the
recovery in styrenics in the U.S., compared to the first half in 1997, led to a
10% increase in the recurring profit of the chemicals sector.
In the Paints segment, Parent announced in July the strategic enlargement
of its subsidiary Sigma with the merger of the paints operations of the Lafarge
group. Parent will retain about 80% of Sigma while the Lafarge group will
acquire around 20%. The enlarged Sigma group will be one of the three leaders in
the decorative paint sector in Europe due to the complementary geographic
operations and substantial potential synergies. The agreement should be
finalized before the end of 1998.
Set forth below are certain unaudited financial data for PetroFina for the
six months ended 1998 and 1997.
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<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
EUROPE AND REST
NORTH AMERICA OF THE WORLD CONSOLIDATED
-------------- --------------- -----------------------
HALF YEAR FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (IN BEF) 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
- --------------------------------------- ----- ------ ------ ------ ---------- ----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
A. RECURRENT INCOME PER SEGMENT(*)
(MILLION BEF)
Upstream.............................. 1,124 586 11,788 8,894 12,912 9,480
Downstream............................ 1,111 1,278 4,289 4,316 5,400 5,594
Chemicals............................. 2,630 2,774 3,157 3,601 5,787 6,375
Paints................................ 817 1,053 817 1,053
Other activities...................... (395) (494) (430) (224) (825) (718)
----- ------ ------ ------ ---------- ----------
Operating income...................... 4,470 4,144 19,621 17,640 24,091 21,784
Net financial charges................. (2,384) (2,010)
Taxes................................. (10,290) (8,485)
---------- ----------
Recurrent consolidated net income..... 11,417 11,289
Group net income (recurrent).......... 11,043 10,957
Non recurrent charges and revenues.... (67) (1,351)
Consolidated Results.................. 11,350 9,938
Group consolidated results............ 10,950 9,706
Minority interest..................... 400 232
B. NON RECURRENT ELEMENTS
(MILLION BEF)
Capital gains on assets sold
Upstream.............................. 284 1,097 604 284 1,701
Downstream............................ 69 965 0 1,034
Non cash LIFO inventory write down
Downstream............................ (531) (2,013) 0 (2,544)
Chemicals............................. (1,738) 0 (1,738)
Other non recurrent charges........... (251) (251) (251) (251)
Tax on non recurrent items............ (100) 386 61 (100) 447
Total non recurrent elements.......... 184 (717) (251) (634) (67) (1,351)
C. CASH FLOW
(MILLION BEF)...................... 28,130 31,039
D. DATA PER SHARE
(BEF PER SHARE)
Net earnings.......................... 470 414
Cash flow............................. 1,208 1,325
Average number of shares outstanding... 23,280,791 23,420,432
E. OPERATING REVENUES
Upstream.............................. 36,115 46,854
Downstream............................ 269,334 271,338
Chemicals............................. 44,766 40,537
Paints................................ 14,957 16,245
Other activities...................... 55 274
Inter-segment sales................... (24,864) (22,372)
---------- ----------
Operating revenue..................... 340,363 352,876
</TABLE>
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<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
EUROPE AND REST
NORTH AMERICA OF THE WORLD CONSOLIDATED
-------------- --------------- -----------------------
HALF YEAR FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (IN BEF) 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
- --------------------------------------- ----- ------ ------ ------ ---------- ----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
F. OPERATING DATA
(MILLION BEF)
Dollar average rate (BEF/USD)......... 34.77 37.29
Financial debt (billion BEF).......... 95.30 92.70
Capital expenditure (billion BEF)..... 16.50 18.70
Brent price (USD/barrel).............. 19.58 13.65
US gas price (USD/per thousand Cubic
feet)
Crude oil production (million
barrels)............................ 2.73 2.15
Natural gas production (billion cubic
feet)............................... 26.10 28.90
Crude processed in refineries (thousand
tons)............................... 106.20 106.50
European refinery margin
(USD/barrel)........................ 16,495 16,858
Sales of petroleum products (thousand
tons)............................... 2.40 2.70
Polymer production (tons)............. 18,498 19,423
1,071,708 1,108,415
</TABLE>
- ---------------
(*) 1997 figures were restated following US GAAP.
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<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
EUROPE AND REST
NORTH AMERICA OF THE WORLD CONSOLIDATED
------------- --------------- -------------------------
HALF YEAR FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS IN USD 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
------------------------------------- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
A. RECURRENT OPERATING INCOME
PER SEGMENT
(MILLION USD)
Upstream............................... 32.3 15.7 339.0 238.5 371.3 254.2
Downstream............................. 32.0 34.3 123.4 115.7 155.4 150.0
Chemicals.............................. 75.6 74.4 90.8 96.6 166.4 171.0
Paints................................. 0.0 0.0 23.5 28.2 23.5 28.2
Other activities....................... (11.4) (13.2) (12.4) (6.0) (23.8) (19.2)
Operating income....................... 128.5 111.2 564.3 473.0 692.8 584.2
Net financial charges.................. (68.6) (53.9)
Taxes.................................. (295.9) (227.5)
Recurrent consolidated net income...... 328.3 302.8
Group net income (recurrent)........... 317.6 293.8
Non recurrent charges and revenues..... (1.9) (36.2)
Consolidated Results................... 326.4 266.6
Group consolidated results............. 314.9 260.4
Minority interest...................... 11.5 6.2
B. NON RECURRENT ELEMENTS
(MILLION USD)
Capital gains on assets sold
Upstream............................... 8.2 29.4 16.2 8.2 45.6
Downstream............................. 1.9 25.9 0.0 27.8
Non cash LIFO inventory write down
Downstream............................. (14.2) (54.0) 0.0 (68.2)
Chemicals.............................. (46.6) 0.0 (46.6)
Other non recurrent charges............ (7.2) (6.7) (7.2) (6.7)
Tax on non recurrent items............. (2.9) 10.4 0.0 1.6 (2.9) 12.0
Total non recurrent elements........... 5.3 (19.1) (7.2) (17.0) (1.9) (36.1)
C. CASH FLOW
(MILLION USD)....................... 809.0 832.4
D. DATA PER SHARE
(USD PER SHARE)
Net earnings........................... 13.5 11.1
Cash flow.............................. 34.8 35.5
Average number of shares outstanding... 23,280,791 23,420,432
E. OPERATIONS REVENUES
(MILLION USD)
Upstream............................... 1,038.7 1,256.5
Downstream............................. 7,746.2 7,276.4
Chemicals.............................. 1,287.5 1,087.1
Paints................................. 430.2 435.6
Other activities....................... 1.6 7.3
Inter-segment sales.................... (715.1) (599.9)
Operating revenue...................... 9,789.1 9,463.0
</TABLE>
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<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
EUROPE AND REST
NORTH AMERICA OF THE WORLD CONSOLIDATED
------------- --------------- -------------------------
HALF YEAR FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS IN USD 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997 1998
------------------------------------- ----- ----- ------ ------ ----------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
F. OPERATING DATA
Dollar average rate (BEF/USD).......... 34.77 37.29
Financial debt (billion USD)........... 2.74 2.49
Capital expenditure (billion USD)...... 0.47 0.50
Brent price (USD/barrel)............... 19.58 13.65
US gas price (USD per thousand cubic
feet)................................ 2.73 2.15
Crude oil production (million
barrels)............................. 26.10 28.90
Natural gas production (billion cubic
feet)................................ 106.20 106.50
Crude processed in refineries (thousand
tons)................................ 16,495 16,858
European refinery margin
(USD/barrel)......................... 2.40 2.70
Sales of petroleum products (thousand
tons)................................ 18,498 19,423
Polymers production (tons)............. 1,071,708 1,108,415
</TABLE>
