Petron 9-month profit up 42%

MANILA, Philippines—Petron Corp., the country’s largest oil refiner and retailer, posted a 42-percent jump in profit in the first nine months of the year to P7.6 billion from year-ago level.

This was attributed mainly to the increase in exports and sales of petrochemicals.

In a statement issued last Friday, Petron said sales of higher-margin petrochemicals contributed about P2.5 billion in earnings. Petrochemical and export volumes for the nine-month period grew 17 percent over the same period last year, the company added.

Petron also reported that total revenue in the first three quarters of the year stood at P202 billion.

For the third quarter alone, however, the oil firm’s net income fell by 14 percent to P 1.56 billion, as sales volume dipped by 7 percent. The drop was caused by weak demand, brought about by higher fuel prices and aggressive competition particularly in the retail and industrial sectors. Revenue in July to September reached P67 billion.

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

“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 said in the statement.

In the second quarter of the year, Petron embarked on its largest and most ambitious project—the $2-billion Refinery Expansion Program (RMP-2) for its 180,000-barrels-per day refinery in Limay, Bataan.

Upon the project’s completion in 2014, Petron is expected to be able to “digest” cheaper crude oil from more sources, convert its low-margin fuel oil production to white products (liquefied petroleum gas, diesel, gasoline) and petrochemicals, and be the only oil company in the country capable of producing Euro IV-compliant fuels.

The company said it was also successful in implementing its 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.