PETRON Corp., the country’s top oil firm, reported a 58-percent jump in its consolidated net income to P5.1 billion for the first three quarters of 2015 from P3.2 billion a year ago.
Petron said the drop in oil prices might have dampened revenue but the pace of decline had “stabilized” such that margins became healthier for the nine-month period this year.
A jump in sales volume and a more stable pricing environment pulled up earnings, the company said.
Combined sales volumes for Philippines and Malaysia grew by 14 percent in the first nine months of the year reaching 73.6 million barrels compared to 64.6 million barrels in 2014.
In the Philippines alone, total sales volumes surged by 22 percent to 46.6 million barrels versus 38.3 million barrels in 2014.
Petron said despite the challenging market conditions, it continued to gain from its station expansion program as shown by the 12-percent rise in sales volumes during the period.
The company also reported a 21-percent growth in LPG sales as its Petron Gasul brand remained the most preferred in the market. Petron Malaysia sustained volume growth in key segments such as industrial and lubes, which grew by 26 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Revenue reached P278.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2015 or 27 percent lower than last year due to lower oil prices. However, operating income nearly doubled to P13.7 billion this year from P7.1 billion in 2014.
Petron’s sales performance in its home market was supported by its $2-billion refinery upgrade called the Refinery Master Plan-2 (RMP-2). Confirming an earlier report, the company said that the project was on track for full commercial operation by early 2016.
Production has been ramping up and in several test runs, utilization has hit 95 percent of rated capacity. Petron’s Bataan refinery is the largest and most advanced in the country with a capacity of 180,000 barrels-per-day (bpd). Prior to the upgrade, its refinery was running at an average of only 100,000 bpd.