OIL refiner and retailer Petron Corp. said its net profit in the first half increased nearly threefold to P3 billion from P1.1 billion in the same period last year on the back of higher sales in both its Philippine and Malaysian operations.
Revenue in the first half climbed 18 percent to P258.2 billion from P218.8 billion last year as sales volume in the two countries rose by a combined 8 percent to 43.1 million barrels.
In the Philippines, sales volume in the first half went up 10 percent to 25.1 million barrels thanks to its ongoing service station expansion program and increased economic activity.
Meanwhile, volumes from its Malaysian operations increased 10 percent to 18 million barrels aided by a stronger network and higher industrial and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales.
Petron currently has 2,200 gas loading stations in the country. It has rebranded 380 out of 550 service stations it acquired in 2011 and opened 10 more stations in Malaysia.
“Our expansion, logistics, and branding initiatives have enabled us to deliver strong results across major business segments. This bodes well for the company ahead of RMP-2’s commissioning, which will further
boost our production and refining margins,” Petron chairman and CEO Ramon Ang said.
The $2-billion Refinery Master Plan 2 (RMP-2) is the firm’s biggest project to date. It will convert the Bataan refinery’s fuel oil production to higher margin gasoline and diesel products and ensure
Petron’s 180,000 barrels per- day production capacity to supply growing fuel demand domestically is met.
Petron said RMP-2 will enable the company to produce more Euro- 4 standard fuels locally. RMP-2 is slated for full commercial operation by 2015.
“Once RMP-2 is launched, it will unleash the full potential of our key assets in refining, distribution, and retail marketing,” Ang said.
Petron’s subsidiaries include New Ventures Realty Corp., Petrogen Insurance Corp., Overseas Insurance Corp. Ltd., Petron Freeport Corp., Petron Marketing Corp., Limay Energen Corp., Petron Singapore Trading Pte. Ltd., Petron Global Ltd., Petron Finance ( Labuan) Ltd., and Petron Oil & Gas Mauritus Ltd. KRISTYN NIKA M. LAZO.
Manila Times, 7 Aug 2014
Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/
