Petron Q3 net profit falls nearly 20% to RM85.53m

The award had stirred criticism, stemming from the connection of Petron to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

PETALING JAYA: Petron Malaysia Refining and Marketing Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 declined 19.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM85.53mil from RM106.07mil a year ago due to a slowing demand from the commercial sector.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the oil refining company said on Thursday the decline was due to lower refining margins. Earnings per share were 31.7 sen compared with 39.3 sen. 

Revenue rose by 29% to RM3.30bil from RM2.56bil last year due to higher oil prices and modest growth in sales volume. 
 
“Oil prices continued its upward trend from the previous quarter albeit at a slower pace with dated Brent averaging US$79 per barrel in September compared to USD$74 per barrel in June,” Petron said.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, its net profit fell by 18.1% to RM250.08mil from RM305.60mil in the previous corresponding period.

Its revenue increased by 21.5% to RM9.15bil from RM7.53bil last year driven by higher prices and sales volume growth. 

On the outlook, Petron expected the price volatility to continue due to several factors such as geopolitical tensions and trade wars which may affect oil supply and demand.

“We will continue to mitigate these volatilities through our risk management system,” it said.

Petron also said it would maintain its service station network expansion programme to cater to its growing customer base and upgrade its refinery and distribution facilities to support the increasing requirements.