KUALA LUMPUR (April 19): Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag), which is 69.86% owned by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), will proceed with its plans to exit the Vietnamese market, its chairman Md Arif Mahmood said, adding that the group is still looking for a buyer for its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottling and distribution operations there.

This is despite improvements in the LPG market and improvement in the group's earnings in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 (FY16).

"Yes, we are still looking to sell our Vietnam-based subsidiary (Thang Long LPG Co Ltd)," Arif told reporters after PetDag's annual general meeting today.

"At the group level, we are always reviewing our portfolio. But we are improving our operations in the Philippines; it's the same here," said Arif.

PetDag had acquired two Vietnam-incorporated firms from Petronas International Corp Ltd in 2012. They were bought together with other Petronas' downstream companies in the Philippines and Thailand.

In December 2015, PetDag announced that it was disposing of Petronas (Vietnam) Co Ltd (PVL) and Thang Long LPG to Totalgaz Vietnam Ltd, which is the LPG operation of French energy player Total in the republic, following changing market conditions.

It managed to complete the sale of PVL to Totalgaz, but its plans to sell Thang Long LPG hit a snag as Totalgaz terminated the 2015 agreement it had signed with PetDag in February this year.

For FY17, Arif said the group will continue to look at more areas to improve its cost efficiency and to increase its sales volume in both fuel and non-fuel businesses.

PetDag's FY16 net profit grew 19.6% to RM944.61 million from RM789.96 million in FY15, on better margin for its motor gas, diesel and aviation segments. Revenue, however, declined 13.1% from the previous year.

Arif said PetDag has set this year's capital expenditure at RM400 million, with plans to open about 10 new petrol stations in the country.

PetDag shares were unchanged at RM24.08 in the morning session, with 253,300 shares done. Its market capitalisation stood at RM23.94 billion.