KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24): Petronas Dagangan Bhd will still be in a position to pay dividends to shareholders, as the group's earnings trend is "quite good", managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said today.

Syed Zainal Abidin, however, said Petronas Dagangan's non-fuel income via the group's Mesra convenience stores, is still deemed below potential, hence, needs to be improved. He said Petronas Dagangan is looking to increase its non-fuel segment's earnings contribution to 30% of total earnings, from about 17% currently.

Petronas' Mesra convenience stores is also known as Kedai Mesra. "The non-fuel income is coming from the Mesra stores. We are upgrading our retail stores to improve our offerings.

"We believe our non-fuel income is a bit below (potential) when it comes to the retail profit," he told reporters here today, on the sidelines of the launch of Petronas' new Syntium lubricant.

Petronas Dagangan's website indicates that the group has four core businesses comprising the retail, commercial, liquefied petroleum gas and lubricant segments.

Petronas Dagangan said its retail business has "grown to become Malaysia’s largest petroleum retail network with over 1,000 stations and 725 Kedai Mesra throughout the country. It continues to grow through the strategic expansion of its retail stations, incorporating the one-stop convenience centre concept of fueling, dining, shopping, banking, car spa and other services, all under one roof."