Cojuangco is new Petron chairman

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corp (SMC) chairman Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. has assumed the chairmanship of the conglomerate’s oil refining subsidiary following the resignation of Ramon S. Ang.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Petron said its board of directors elected yesterday Cojuangco as the new chairman.

“This is to advise that, at the meeting of the board of directors of Petron Corp. held earlier (yesterday), the following were elected as officers of the company: Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. as chairman of both the board of directors and the compensation committee of the company following the resignations of Ramon S. Ang from such positions, and Atty. Virgilio S. Jacinto as a member of the compensation committee,” Petron said.

Ang in turn, has been elected as president following the resignation of Lubin Nepomuceno. Ang will serve as president for the remaining portion of Nepomuceno’s term while Nepomuceno will serve as general manager of the company.

Petron did not cite any reasons for the resignation of Ang and Nepomuceno as chairman and president, respectively.

Petron reported a consolidated net income of P3.2 billion in the first nine months of 2014, down 26 percent from the previous year’s P4.4 billion, due to the sustained fall in crude prices. Consolidated revenues, however, remained strong.

The benchmark Dubai crude fell to an average $97 per barrel in September from an average $108 per barrel in June, resulting in nine rounds of price rollbacks during the period.

“If the crude price was stable in the third quarter, operating income would have been higher by P1.9 billion,” Petron said.

However, sales remained strong, churning in consolidated revenues from both its Philippine and Malaysian operations, hitting P379.5 billion during the period from P335.9 billion in the same period in 2013.