Czech Unipetrol sees FY net at $253 mln - paper

PRAGUE, July 9 (Reuters) - Full-year net profit at Czech refiner Unipetrol (UNPEsp.PR: Quote, Profile, Research) could reach 3.8 billion crowns ($253.1 million) in the current year, the company's chief Francois Vleugels signalled in a newspaper interview.

He reiterated the company targets 4.8 billion crowns in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) this year but said reaching that target would be tough.

"In the current macroeconomic environment (reaching that target) is a challenge," Vleugels told daily Hospodarske Noviny.

Unipetrol has been unable to translate the higher cost of oil into the prices of its products, mainly in the petrochemical segment which accounts for about two thirds of sales.

In April the company said it saw its EBIT forecast as rather conservative, but further oil price growth and the strengthening of the crown currency dented the company's first-quarter performance.

Vleugels said Unipetrol is working to raise petrochemical margins through hiking prices as well as cutting costs.

"We must stop wasting money. The concerns are, for example, the proper set up of processes in the refining and the chemical part of the company," Vleugels said. (Reporting by Jana Mlcochova; Editing by David Holmes)