Petronas Dagangan Q3 net profit soars to RM762mil
Spike in earnings due to disposal gains, says company
KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag), the marketing arm of Petroliam Nasional Bhd or Petronas, saw its net profit more than triple to RM761.8mil in the third quarter ended Sept 30 from RM248.8mil a year ago.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the largest petrol station chains operator attributed the spike in profits to gains from disposal of one of its wholly-owned subsidiary and a 40% stake associate company in the Philippines for RM424.6mil.
It declared a higher dividend of 20 sen a share amounting to RM198.7mil for the third quarter, compared to 14 sen a share or RM139.1mil last year.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company said its revenue for the quarter swelled 22% to RM6.69bil from RM5.48bil previously.
PetDag has the largest petrol station network in the country with more than 1,000 stations nationwide. It also markets petroleum products including motor gasoline, aviation fuel and lubricants.
“We intensified our sales and marketing campaigns and expanded into digital marketing and these efforts have proven to yield positive results for us in terms of gross profit and sales volume,” PetDag managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Ibrahimnuddin Mohd Yunus said in a statement.
In comparison to last year’s performance, PetDag said its retail business recorded a 35% increase in gross profit following an upward trend in product prices, while commercial business registered a 17% increase in gross profit, contributed by higher volumes in aviation fuel and diesel.
The company said its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business recorded a 46% increase in gross profit in line with a 5% increase in volume following the implementation of new incentive programmes to drive higher sales.
However, its lubricant business’ gross profit decreased by 5% due to lower volume and higher product costs.
Cumulatively, for the first nine-month of financial year 2017 (FY17), PetDag’s net profit surged 84% to RM1.26bil from RM683mil a year earlier.
Revenue for the period was higher by 26.6% or RM4.2bil to RM19.7bil from RM15.6bil previously.
PetDag attributed the growth in its bottomline and topline to higher average selling price for both sales in petrol station businesses and commercial segment.
“In the next quarter, PetDag will ramp up efforts to drive volume growth while ensuring the efficiency of our inventory management, supply and distribution, as well as operating expenditure optimisation,” Ibrahimnuddin said.
He pointed out that the company’s retail business would further strengthen its network and continue to grow in the e-commerce segment, leveraging on the existing partnership with e-retailers such as Shopee, Lazada Malaysia and 11street to diversify its point-of-sales and enhance customer experience.
On the commercial and LPG segment, he said PetDag would focus on maintaining its market leadership position while efforts will be focused on growing the higher margin products for lubricant business.