Petron doubles H1 profit to P6B

MANILA, Philippines - Oil giant Petron Corp. more than doubled its net income in the first half of the year to P6 billion, from P2.96 billion a year earlier, on improved sales mainly from exports.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Petron – the country’s largest integrated oil refining and marketing company – said sales revenues reached P134.9 billion in the first half, compared to P115.4 billion in the same period last year, as export sales jumped 54 percent to 3.14 million barrels.

“This was partly offset by the drop in domestic volumes of 1.9 million barrels as reduced motorist activity due to bad weather dampened local demand,” the company said.

Despite the drop, Petron remains the industry leader with 38 percent share of the total market and continues to lead in the retail, LPG and industrial market segments.  

Margins likewise improved with sales of high-margin petrochemical feedstocks namely propylene, benzene, toluene and mixed xylene of up to 1.7 million barrels during the period.

“While Petron continues to show strong results from its core businesses, we are now reaping the benefits from the production of higher-margin petrochemical feedstocks,” Petron chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang said.

“We are seeing more potential from this business which is why plans are underway to scale up our refining operations and further increase Petron’s footprint in the domestic and international markets.”

Petron has embarked on a major upgrade of its Bataan refinery, committing an estimated P75 billion over the next few years to upgrade its 180,000 barrel-per-day capacity. The Bataan refinery is already the largest and most modern refining and petrochemicals complex in the country.

Called the Refinery Expansion Project or RMP-2, the upgrade will ensure the country’s supply security as it will give Petron’s refinery the flexibility to “digest” a wider array of crude oil types from various supply points.

“Clearly, we have been able to accelerate our growth momentum even as we come from an already record-breaking performance in 2010. Moving forward, we are confident and optimistic of Petron’s prospects in 2011 given the programs we have in place and in the pipeline,” Ang added.