PETRON SEEN TO BEAT PREPANDEMIC PROFITABILITY

Local oil giant Petron Corp. is upbeat on surpassing its prepandemic financial performance sooner than later, with its top executive saying the listed unit of San Miguel group is on the mend.

”We are very confident that we will soon have a better outcome than [what was seen] prepandemic,” said Petron president and CEO Ramon Ang during the company’s virtual annual stockholders’ meeting.

Petron was not spared from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The stricter community quarantine restrictions implemented nationwide put a dent in its profitability.

The country’s sole crude oil refiner incurred an P11.4-billion net loss in 2020. Consolidated revenues plummeted by 44 percent to P286 billion while consolidated sales declined by 27 percent to 78.6 million.

Refinery operations

Low fuel demand and poor refining margins prompted Petron to temporarily halt refinery operations in Bataan in May 2020. While at it, the facility underwent maintenance activities on its major process units.

Ang once hinted that Petron’s 180,000-barrel-perday refinery would be permanently shut down “very soon,” citing the uneven playing field between importers and refiners. Refiners are paying taxes for the imported crude upon its arrival and on the finished product while importers pay tax once for selling petroleum products.

Eventually, Petron resumed operations of the refinery in the second half of 2021.

Over the hump

A year later, Petron made a significant turnaround as lockdown measures and travel restrictions were eased and economic activities resumed.

Petron recorded a net income of P6.14 billion in 2021. Consolidated revenues surged by 53 percent to P437.74 billion while it sold 82.24 million barrels, up by 5 percent.

“I would like to believe we’ve done much much better now. But of course, we are still recovering to reach prepandemic level,” said Ang.

Petron sustained the momentum as it reported that net income in the first quarter more than doubled to P3.6 billion. Revenues during the period soared by about 107 percent to P172.33 billion.

“Two years into this pandemic, we now find ourselves in a position of renewed strength and confidence as we continue to navigate the industry with the same caution and prudence that helped us turn our financial performance around,” Ang said in an earlier statement.