By Lenie Lectura
PETRON Corp. saw its net income in 2015 double to more than P6 billion from a year ago, amid weak oil prices that resulted in lower sales last year.
The country’s leading oil refining and marketing company reported a consolidated net income of P6.3 billion in 2015, more than double the company’s earnings of P3 billion in 2014.
Petron’s doubled net income was driven by a surge in sales volumes, better refining margins and effective risk management, the company said.
Revenues, however, dipped by 25 percent to P360.2 billion in 2015, from P482.5 billion in 2014 due to a near 50-percent drop in oil prices.
Benchmark Dubai crude averaged $51 per barrel last year, from $97 the previous year. Dubai is currently averaging around $30 per barrel.
Despite weak oil prices in 2015, the differential between crude and finished products remained strong and the mix of higher-value products improved, supporting refining margins.
“Petron beat expectations and posted solid results last year. Low domestic prices and continued growth in the Philippine and Malaysian economies, coupled with our strategic investments, enabled us to reach record-breaking sales volumes,” Petron President Ramon S. Ang said.
The combined sales volume of Petron’s Philippine and Malaysian operations stood at 98 million barrels in 2015, a 13-percent growth from 2014’s 86.5 million.
In the Philippines Petron increased sales with strong demand from reseller, industrial and LPG segments. Volumes from service-station sales grew by 11 percent, while LPG grew another 16 percent over the period compared to 2014.
In Malaysia Petron’s rebranding and upgrading program reaped dividends. Retail gasoline volumes, for instance, grew by 11 percent.
“We are right where we want to be as we continued to grow our business profitably and sustainably,” Ang added.
Petron’s sales performance in the Philippines was supported by the initial test run and commissioning of its $2-billion refinery-upgrade project in 2015.
In preparation for full operations this year, Petron’s refinery has hit a utilization rate of nearly 90 percent, with an average run of nearly 160,000 barrels per day in the first two months of 2016.
The company also continues to aggressively expand its service-station network in both countries to push more profitable domestic sales. As of end-2015, there were over 2,200 stations in the Philippines and another 570 in Malaysia.
“We are definitely on track to deliver better results this year as we reap the benefits of our expansion and upgrading projects. We are well-positioned to take advantage of business opportunities in the downstream oil industry and sustain our growth momentum,” Ang said.