Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) on Thursday said its board of directors has approved the company’s P3-billion equity investment in Petrogen Insurance Corp., the insurance company wholly-owned by refiner Petron Corp.
“With the investment, the corporation will have direct equity interest in Petrogen…in addition to its current indirect equity interest through Petron. The additional investment by the corporation will enable it to expand its insurance business,” the company said in its disclosure.
Petron is a unit of San Miguel, while Petrogen serves the insurance requirements of Petron.
Petrogen is engaged in the business and operation of all kinds of insurance and reinsurance for sea and land; for properties, goods and merchandise; for transportation or conveyance; and against fire, earthquake, marine perils, and accidents, except life insurance.
San Miguel said its income reached P10.74 billion for the three quarters of the year, or just a quarter of its income last year of P39.65 billion as Petron’s huge losses pulled down most of the gains it made in all of its units during the third quarter.
In the third quarter alone, it had a P14.73-billion in income, some 8 percent higher than last year’s P13.54 billion. Its third quarter income also wiped out the P4-billion loss it reported in the first half.
Net sales of the country’s largest corporation during January to September reached P531.13 billion, down from last year’s P758.63 billion.
Petron reported a P12.6-billion net loss for the nine months of the year, from an income last year of P3.62 billion.
For the third quarter alone, Petron had a consolidated net income of P1.63 billion, mainly due to stabilizing world crude prices and government’s easing of the quarantine restrictions, the company said.
Consolidated retail volumes registered a 49-percent increase in the quarter. Domestic volumes have started to recover, with most Petron stations in the country operating under normal hours since August, the company said.