KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 13): Shares in Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag) rose 6.11% this morning after its net profit in 3QFY17 jumped three times y-o-y to RM761.73 million, from RM248.76 million, on higher sales volume, better margins and a gain on the disposal of a subsidiary.

At 9.36am, PetDag rose RM1.32 to RM22.92 with 128,100 shares traded.

During the quarter, the group sold its 100% interest in Petronas Energy Philippines Inc and a 40% interest in an associated company, Duta Inc, to P-H-O-E-N-I-X Petroleum Philippines Inc, which gave rise to a disposal gain of RM424.6 million.

Group revenue climbed 22.1% to RM6.69 billion, from RM5.48 billion, driven by a 3% increase in sales volume and an 18% rise in average selling price, it said, in tandem with higher average Mean of Platts Singapore (MoPS) prices.

The group declared an interim dividend of 20 sen per share for the quarter — 6 sen higher than the 14 sen it paid in the same period last year — payable on Dec 8. This raises its year-to-date dividend (paid and declared) for FY17 to 48 sen versus 40 sen in the same period last year.