* Oil product sales down 10 percent
* Q3 group net at 10.4 million euros
* Share price down
(Updates with quotes, details, share price)
By Marja Novak
LJUBLJANA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Slovenia's largest fuel retailer Petrol said on Thursday group net profit had shrunk to 19.1 million euros ($28.6 million) in the first nine months from 42.2 million in the same period of 2008.
It said in a statement sales of oil products fell 10 percent to 1.7 million tonnes, mostly due to the global economic crisis and high excise duties in Slovenia, but gave no sales figure in euros.
The company said it had posted group net profit of 10.4 million euros in the third quarter but gave no comparable figure for 2008.
"The business environment in the first nine months of 2009 was characterised by the financial crisis and acceleration of economic recession," the Petrol statement said.
"In addition to this, the competitive position of Slovene oil traders was affected by a high level of excise duty, which is higher than in most neighbouring states," it said.
Analysts said the results were good given the circumstances but would have little impact on the share price, which was to move in line with the general trends on stock markets in Europe and Slovenia.
"Considering the economic crisis and the high excise duty this result is acceptable, it is good," said Jure Vrhunec of Raiffeisen Bank.
Petrol operates some 430 filling stations in Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro.
The company ended 2008 with a loss for the first time since being listed in 1997 but managed to return to profit in the second quarter of 2009.
Petrol's share price closed 0.65 percent lower at 342.07 euros on Thursday while the blue-chip SBI index eased 1.49 percent. (Reporting by Marja Novak, Edited by Zoran Radosvljevic and Jon Loades-Carter) ($1=.6679 Euro)