Petron 2014 income down 41% as global oil price drop bites

Petron Corp. saw a 41 percent drop in 2014 net earnings due to the collapse in prices of crude and finished products during the second semester of last year.

 

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Tuesday, Petron said its net income fell to P3 billion compared with P5.1 billion in 2013.

 

The price of benchmark Dubai crude fell by 44 percent to $60 per barrel on average in December from $108 in June, the company noted. 

 

"This would have been much higher if not for the net inventory loss of P6.5 billion," Petron said.

 

Sales from its Philippine and Malaysian operations increased by 6 percent to 86.5 million barrels versus 81.7 million barrels. This drove revenues 4 percent higher to P482.5 billion from P463.6 billion. 

   

“Despite a difficult environment, we rose to the challenge and delivered strong results. We focused on completing major projects to unleash the full potential of our strategic assets and further cement our leadership in the industry,” Petron president and CEO Ramon S. Ang said in the statement.  

 

Petron is commissioning its $2-billion Refinery Master Plan Phase 2 (RMP-2), which will allow production capacity to reach 180,000 barrels-per-day and conversion of negative-margin fuel into higher-value fuel products such as gasoline and diesel.

 

Petron said it now has nearly 550 stations in Malaysia.

  

“The completion of our rebranding and upgrading program is a significant milestone since it lays the foundation for our further expansion in the Malaysian market," Ang said. "We are pleased to note that we are gaining the trust and confidence of consumers there." – Danessa O. Rivera/VS, GMA News