KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag) reported its first loss-making quarter with a net loss of RM29.42 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 (1QFY20), from a net profit of RM291.2 million last year.

The group warned that the prolonged movement control order (MCO) period will continue taking its toll on the global economy and the group’s profitability for 2QFY20.

This is the first quarterly loss for PetDag since FY05. Still, PetDag declared a dividend of five sen for the quarter, payable on June 17.

The group, which runs the biggest petrol station chain in Malaysia, attributed the quarterly loss to lower gross profit following a sharp decline in Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) price trends, lower sales volume towards the end of the quarter, and higher operating expenses attributable to professional services cost and depreciation cost.

While the average Brent price in 1QFY20 was US$50.26 (RM219.56)/bbl compared with the previous quarter's US$63.32/bbl, the sharp decline in March 2020, driven by the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic and Opec+ price war, set the lowest month average price of US$31.83/bbl seen in the last five years, said PetDag in its quarterly result release.

Quarterly revenue was also down 16.04% to RM6.55 billion, from RM7.81 billion for 1QFY19, the company said.

PetDag explained that revenue was lower due to overall sales volume declining by 4% for both its retail and commercial segments, with average selling prices (ASPs) dropping by 3%.

“The group experienced challenging market conditions towards the end of the first quarter arising from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic globally as well as constraints of the local movement control order (MCO),” it added.

Back in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2005 (3QFY05), PetDag announced a net loss of RM16.5 million, versus a net profit of RM27.7 million a year ago, due to a contraction in gross profit by 34.2% as a result of higher average cost of sales. Revenue, however, was 35.3% higher at RM4.16 billion, from RM3.08 billion.

The group, however, said it will continue to focus on inventory management, supply and distribution efficiency as well as operating expenditure optimisation to ensure that it remains resilient and sustainable to run its operations.

Shares in PetDag closed 38 sen or 1.93% higher at RM20.06 today, valuing the company at RM19.93 billion. The counter, over the past year, has fallen some 18.39% from RM24.58.