Petronas Dagangan’s third quarter earnings rise 36.5%

PETALING JAYA: Petronas Dagangan Bhd saw its net profit increase 36.46% to RM218.88 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 against RM160.4 million in the previous corresponding period, mainly supported by higher margin from the retail and commercial segments.

Revenue for the quarter under review went down 20.63% from RM8.23 billion to RM6.53 billion due to a drop in average selling price and volume.

The company has proposed to declare an interim dividend of 14 sen per share.

In a filing with the stock exchange, Petronas Dagangan said the higher profit was also contributed by lower operating expenditure as well as higher other income, which was due to an accounting reclassification arising from the Goods and Services Tax implementation.

The board of directors believe the economic and business environment will continue to be challenging for the remainder of 2015.

“The group will continue to implement measures such as inventory management strategy and operating expenditure management as part of cost reduction efforts, as well as pursuing ongoing efforts and initiatives to ensure the company remains resilient in the face of a more competitive environment,” it said.

Nine-month net earnings soared 39.26% from RM501.13 million to RM697.86 million on the back of a 23.16% drop in revenue from RM24.89 billion to RM19.12 billion.