Petron posted P7.6-b net profit in first nine months

Petron Corp., the largest oil refiner, said Friday it posted a net income of P1.56 billion in the third quarter, down 14 percent year-on-year.

The company said it registered revenues of P54.4 billion during the period, down 7 percent on year.

Petron blamed the lower sales and profits to weak demand caused by higher fuel prices and aggressive competition, especially in the retail and industrial sectors.

Revenues in the first nine months hit nearly P202 billion while net income amounted to P7.6 billion. Petron did not provide comparative figures.

The company attributed the income to sales of higher-margin petrochemicals, which contributed about P2.5 billion in earnings. Petrochemical and export volumes for the nine-month period grew 17 percent over same period last year.

“Despite the challenging business environment, Petron remains poised to sustain its growth momentum with the programs we have in place and in the pipeline,” Petron chairman and chief executive Ramon Ang said.

“Our modernization and expansion programs are already yielding tangible results and we expect more upside in terms of better yields, more efficient production and optimized distribution once our other projects come on-stream in the very near future,” Ang added.

Petron in the second quarter embarked on its largest and most ambitious project to date—the $2-billion refinery expansion at its 180,000 barrels per day refinery in Limay, Bataan.

Petron said it would be able to “digest” cheaper crude oil from more sources, convert its low-margin fuel oil production to white products (LPG, diesel, gasoline) and petrochemicals, and the only oil company capable of locally producing Euro IV-compliant fuels once the expansion project is completed.

The company said it had been successful in implementing a network expansion program over the past few years. Petron currently has almost 1,800 service stations nationwide, the largest network in the oil industry by far.


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