April 29 (Reuters) - Finnish biofuel maker and oil

refiner Neste expects U.S. tariffs will have only a

limited direct impact on its business, it said on Tuesday, but

warned of continuous oversupply in renewable fuel and market

volatility.

"We expect the European policymakers to safeguard a level

playing field and competitiveness of European industrial

companies," Neste Chief Executive Officer Heikki Malinen said in

a statement.

Excess supply of renewable fuel, weak demand and global

economic uncertainty have hit the profitability of the Finnish

group, which warned in February of ongoing challenges ahead.

Neste, which has a joint venture with Marathon Petroleum ( MPC )

in California, added that the U.S. market remained

important for the company. However, the removal of Blender's Tax

Credit (BTC) has led the company to reoptimise its Singapore

shipments, Malinen said. BTC was a clean fuel tax credits

programme proposed by the Biden administration, but later

scrapped.

The company's comparable first-quarter earnings before

interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 62%

from a year earlier to 210 million euros ($239.15 million), and

Malinen said the performance remained "unsatisfactory".

Analysts in a company-provided consensus had expected 211.7

million euros on average.

Neste's sales margin in the renewables products segment fell

to $310 per tonne in the quarter from $526 in the first quarter

of 2024, but beat the average expectation of $242 per tonne.

But while the company said it still expects its margins

to improve in 2025, it warned of the impact from oil price

movements amid geopolitical uncertainty.

Earlier

in April

the group reduced about 510 positions globally, in a move

expected to bring annual savings of around 65 million euros.

Neste shares were up more than 10% in Helsinki at 0725

GMT.

($1 = 0.8781 euros)