Petron swings to profit in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — Petron Corp. opened 2021 on a strong note with a consolidated net income of P1.73 billion in the first quarter of the year.

This is a reversal of the P4.9 billion net loss incurred in the same quarter last year and sustains the positive momentum from the P1.2 billion net income reported in the fourth quarter.

Petron said its first quarter sales volume improved compared to the average of the last three quarters of 2020, reaching 19.38 million barrels. The figure, however, is still 21 percent lower than the 24.66 million barrels sold in the same period last year due to the pandemic.

As a result, consolidated revenues decreased by 20 percent to P83.3 billion.

Despite lower revenues, Petron delivered a turnaround in operating income to P3.7 billion from the P4.4 billion operating loss in the same period last year.

Savings on operating expenses and financing costs also contributed to the sustained positive results.

The homegrown oil giant has built 14 new stations in the first quarter, with plans to build more for the rest of the year.

“As a company, we are doing all that we can to create a safe and healthy work environment while ensuring that our recovery stays on track. Petron is constantly evolving, and we will continue to work towards our goal of emerging stronger from this pandemic. With the country’s vaccination program gaining more ground, we feel confident about our prospects and have, in fact, scheduled the resumption of our refining operations this June,” Petron president and CEO Ramon Ang said.

To help the government achieve its vaccination goals, parent firm San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is spending close to P1 billion for its group wide Ligtas Lahat vaccination program, which aims to inoculate all 70,000 SMC employees and extended workforce.

“We are banking on the success of vaccination efforts here and abroad to boost our economy and the downstream business environment in general. While we have our work cut out for us, we are inspired to do more, grow stronger, and contribute further to society,” Ang said.

For this year, Petron has set aside P11 billion for capital expenditures to cover its ongoing construction of steam generator plants, strategic retail network expansion and maintenance requirements.

Following its approval as a registered-enterprise last December, the Petron Bataan Refinery has started to transition into AFAB (Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan) and has also begun to avail of fiscal incentives from operating in a freeport zone.

In Malaysia, Petron’s two major expansion projects in Port Dickson Refinery – the diesel hydrotreater (DHT) and marine import facility 2 (MIF2) – remained on track.