News roundup - Friday, 27 August, until 3pm

More than 540 new cases as 14-day incidence surpasses 200

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia reported 542 new coronavirus infections for Thursday and a test positivity rate of 18.3%. The 7-day average of confirmed daily cases increased by 30 to 393, while the 14-day incidence per 100,000 population was up to 216, which means Slovenia has entered the red phase according to the European Centre for Disease Control classification. Hospitalisations were up by 12 to 117, with 22 patients requiring intensive care, up by two from yesterday. Two people died of Covid-19.

Petrol's net profit more than doubles as sales up 20%

LJUBLJANA - Energy company Petrol saw group net profit jump by 140% to more than EUR 49 million on sales that increased 20% year-on-year to EUR 1.8 billion, according to the company's interim report. Profit before income tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 59% compared to the same period of 2020 to EUR 102.1 million, and adjusted gross profit stood at EUR 258.1 million, an increase of 44%.

Unior returns to profit in H1, revenue up by almost 32%

ZREČE - Unior, a Zreče-based group specialising in forged metals and tools, generated EUR 122.1 million in net sales revenue in the first half of the year, up 31.8% year-on-year. Net profit stood at EUR 6.4 million, with the group bouncing back from a 2.7 million loss in the same period in 2020. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 15 million, 68% more year-on-year.

Jobless total decreases by a fifth in second quarter

LJUBLJANA - The jobless total in Slovenia stood at 44,000 in the second quarter of the year according to the labour force survey, down 20% compared to the quarter before, the Statistics Office said. The survey unemployment rate was 1.3 percentage points lower at 4.3%. The labour force participation rate was 2.9 points higher compared to the first quarter to stand at 56.1%.

Mura relegated to Conference League

GRAZ, Austria - Slovenian football champions Mura have been relegated to the Conference League after a 2:0 loss against Sturm Graz in the final round of qualifying for the Europa League on Thursday. The result was 5:1 on aggregate.