KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) net profit surged to RM10 billion in the third quarter ended September 30 2017, fron RM6.1 billion a year ago.
This was due to improved performances of its upstream and downstream businesses and supported by recovering commodity prices, stronger margins as well as its on-going group-wide transformation initiatives.
In a statement today, Petronas said its revenue for the quarter was RM53.7 billion, up by 14 per cent from the corresponding quarter last year, driven by higher average realised prices for major products and impact of foreign exchange rate.
Petronas said the stronger profit was partially offset by higher tax expenses, product costs and amortisation of oil and gas assets.
Petronas said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew to RM21.5 billion from RM15.2 billion.
It said capital investments for the quarter was RM12.5 billion, mainly attributable to the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in Johor.
For the nine months period the group recorded a 15 per cent increase in revenue at RM161.8 billion, mainly due to the impact of higher average realised prices and the impact of foreign exchange rate.
Cumulative net profit was RM27.3 billion compared to RM12.5 billion in the same period last year, primarily due to lower net impairment on assets and well costs.
Total assets decreased to RM600.3 billion as at September 30, compared to RM603.4 billion as at December 31, 2016 due to stronger ringgit against US dollar.
Petronas said in light of modest recovery in oil price and the continued drive for efficiency improvement, it expects the Group’s overall year-end performance to be better than last year.
Petronas president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said the group remains committed to improving efficiency across its operations, and will continue to focus on transformation initiatives which have produced tangible results.
“We intend to enhance our efforts to take advantage of the current recovery in oil prices for Petronas to close the year strongly,” he said.
