This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 27, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Dagangan Bhd’s (PetDag) fourth-quarter (4Q) net profit plunged 83% to RM46.68 million from RM278.58 million a year earlier, due to a significant decline in petroleum product prices.

Revenue for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2018, however, rose 10% to RM7.9 billion from RM7.16 billion a year ago, on higher sales volume and average selling prices, PetDag said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

The board declared a final interim dividend of 25 sen per share, payable on March 28, bringing FY18’s payout to 70 sen — versus 97 sen previously. “The  fourth quarter was challenging as crude oil and petroleum product prices began to decline sharply, affecting PetDag’s overall profitability,” PetDag managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin said in a statement.

“We managed to minimise the impact by pushing for sales volume growth while focusing on our inventory management, supply and distribution efficiency as well as operating expenditure optimisation,” he added.

For the full year, PetDag’s net profit fell 45% to RM849.85 million, from RM1.54 billion in the previous year. Revenue rose 10% to RM30.07 billion from RM27.42 billion.

“We are cautious about the challenging landscape ahead given the continued volatility of oil price and the introduction of weekly fuel prices,” said Syed Zainal.