KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 (4QFY20) rose 45.06% to RM42.02 million from RM28.97 million a year ago, mainly due to inventory holding gains and improved refining margin.
Its revenue, however, fell 48.09% to RM1.51 billion, from RM2.91 billion, due to lower sales volume and oil prices, its filing to Bursa Malaysia showed.
The group said, due to reduced movement and economic activities amid the conditional movement control order during the period under review, the group recorded lower sales volume at 6.8 million barrels during the quarter, as compared to 9.2 million barrels sales volume over the same period in 2019.
While Brent crude oil prices rallied to average US$50 per barrel in December 2020 from its September average of US$41 per barrel, its fourth quarter average of US$44 per barrel remained 30% lower from the same quarter average of US$63 per barrel in 2019, said Petron, which is involved in the manufacturing and marketing of petroleum products.
Despite the lower revenue, the group profit improved mainly due to inventory gains, as oil price recovered during the last three months of 2020 and improved refining margin.
The group did not declare any dividend for the quarter under review.
For the full year ended Dec 31, 2020, the group slipped into a net loss of RM13.32 million from a net profit of RM177.13 million, as its revenue dropped by 43.6% to RM6.46 billion from RM11.46 billion.
On its prospect, Petron said it remained confident that through its resilient operations, strong financial position, coupled with prudent resource and risk management measures, its business performance will improve.
Petron Malaysia’s shares closed 9 sen or 1.8% higher at RM5.10 today, valuing the group at RM1.38 billion.