KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Dagangan posted record breaking earning of RM1.59bil in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2017 compared with RM944.61mil a year ago, underpinned by improved margins and gain from disposal of its subsidiaries.
It said on Monday its revenue rose 24.1% to RM26.73bil from RM21.53bil a year ago mainly due to an increase in average selling prices by 25% in tandem with increasing Means of Platts (MOPS) products prices.
Overall sales volume dropped marginally by only 1%, in line with the lower market growth which affected all industry players.
Petronas Dagangan's gross profit rose 12% reflecting effective management of inventories and cost optimisation initiatives.
It proposed an interim dividend of 27 sen and a special dividend of 22 sen, totalling 49 sen a share.
As for Q4, earnings rose 6.5% to RM278.57mil in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2017 compared with RM261.49mil a year ago.
Revenue was up 17.9% to RM6.99bil from RM5.93bil a year ago. Its earnings per share were 28 sen compared with 26.30 sen.
Commenting on Petronas Dagangan's FY17 results, its managing director and CEO Datuk Mohd Ibrahimnuddin Mohd Yunus said last year was another outstanding year amidst challenging market conditions and stiff competition.
“Our strong performance is a testament that the strategies and winning formula we have in place are effective and yielding positive results”.
“Group earnings per share, including gains on disposal of subsidiary for FY2017 increased by 59.9 sen to 155.0 sen against last year in line with the higher profit registered,” he said.
Its retail business recorded a 13% increase in gross profit mainly from the sales of diesel and mogas. Mesra C-store income also registered an increase by RM5.7mil following attractive promotion campaigns.
Commercial business registered an 11% increase in gross profit attributable to increased volume from Jet-A1 and diesel.
LPG business recorded a 21% increase in gross profit resulting from competitive pricing and effective supply optimisation strategies, while lubricant business’ gross profit decreased by 5% due to higher product cost.
On the plans for 2018, Ibrahimnuddin said Petronas Dagangan we will continue to be aggressive to grow volume across all businesses whilst ensuring effective inventory management and continuing to push for operational excellence and cost optimisation.
He said the retail business will focus on enhancing customer experience at the stations as well as leveraging digital solutions and e-commerce platform to ramp up sales.
As for the commercial and LPG businesses, they will focus on fortifying their respective market leaderships and continue delivering value to the customers.
The lubricant business will drive profitable and sustainable volume growth via targeted marketing programmes for key strategic brands.
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