Petron profit rises 47%

Petron Corp., the country’s largest oil refiner, earned P7.4 billion in the nine months ending September, fueled by strong sales and improved efficiency in its refinery even as global oil prices continued to fall.

In a statement, the company said the net earnings for the period jumped 47 percent from the previous year’s P5.1 billion.

Petron said the strong sales volume growth for the period was “due to strong demand and improved production efficiencies” with the $2 billion refinery upgrade project at the start of the year.

Consolidated sales volume grew six percent to 78.2 million barrels for the period from 73.6 million sold in the same period in 2015 on the back of substantial growth across all major business segments, namely reseller, industrial, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and lubricants.

In particular, domestic sales expanded 10 percent to 36.4 million barrels, boosted by increased industrial diesel sales, retail gasoline volumes, high demand from the aviation sector, and growing LPG consumption from households.

Its Malaysian operations, on the other hand, continued to exhibit robust growth with an eight percent increase in sales over the period.

Petron said the increase in sales volume partially offset the drop in sales revenue due to lower product prices.

Consolidated revenue for the period decreased 11 percent to P247.8 billion from P278.3 billion.

Meanwhile, operating income grew 23 percent to P16.8 billion.

“We are confident that we can substantially increase our profits in 2016 compared to last year as demand for fuels remains strong. Strong demand combined with strategic programs we have successfully executed means a higher growth trend for Petron over the long-term,” Petron president and CEO Ramon Ang said.