Petron posts income in first half

Against the odds of crude oil inventory losses and 45-day maintenance shutdown of its Limay refinery, leading oil player Petron Corporation thrived on 56-percent income growth in the first half to R8.2 billion from the year-ago level of R5.3 billion.

Operating income similarly improved by 27 percent within the review period to R14.6 billion from R11.5 billion within the same duration last year.

Petron President and CEO Ramon S. Ang attributed the oil firm’s phenomenal financial performance within JanuaryJune period to their “upgraded refining capabilities,” which then enabled the company to “derive more value and produce more profitable products.”

He qualified that such had been “complemented by our extensive expansion efforts in both our logistics and retail businesses.”

With the company’s refinery shutdown of one-and-a-half month, that could have resulted in foregone sales that supposedly pulled down bottom line performance, but the reverse still happened. The shutdown had been part of the facility’s routine 10-year inspection program.

In terms of revenues, the oil firm logged 28-percent climb on this year’s six-month period to R207 billion from R161.9 billion a year ago.

Petron itself qualified that “the solid performance was driven by the company’s deliberate focus on more profitable segments and improved refinery yields.”

It further cited sustained growth in sales volume, which had been a follow-through to its record-breaking year in 2016.

Operations in both markets of Malaysia and the Philippines were still considerably buoyant – with total sales volume inching a bit higher to 52.9 million barrels from last year’s 52.6 million barrels.

Onward, Ang is anticipating sustained performance driven mainly by the growing demand of the country for petroleum commodities.