Petronas Q2 EBITDA up 14pc to RM17.7b
Published on: Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: Petroliam Nasional Bhd's (Petronas) Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) in its second quarter ended June 30, 2016 (Q216) rose by 14 per cent to RM17.7 billion from RM15.6 billion in the first quarter of 2016.President/Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, said the group recorded a revenue of RM48.4 billion for the quarter, a one per cent drop from RM49.1 billion in the previous quarter. "This lower revenue is mainly attributed to unfavourable exchange rates, coupled with and overall lower sales volume.
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"As with our peers, the first half of 2016 remained difficult for Petronas amid a 31 per cent drop in Dated Brent Price as compared to the previous year," he said, when announcing Petronas' financial results here Monday. Sales volume for petroleum products was 137.6 million barrels, a decrease of 5.8 million barrels from the previous corresponding period due to lower trading activities. Crude oil sales volume was 104 million barrels, a decrease of 7.4 milliom barrels compared to the first half-year of 2015.
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Total assets as at June 30, 2016 fell to RM567.5 billion compared to RM591.9 billion as at Dec 31, 2015, primarily due to the weakening of US dollar exchange rate against the ringgit. Cash flows from operating activities rose by 64 per cent to RM15.9 billion in the second quarter from RM9.7 billion in the first quarter of 2016.
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Meanwhile, group pre-tax profit for the half-year ended June 30, 2016 after taking into account impairments amounted to RM10 billion, a 68 per cent drop from RM31.6 billion achieved in the same period in 2015. The lower number was posted on the back of a RM97.6 billion revenue, which was a 23 per cent decrease from the RM127.5 billion revenue recorded during the first half of 2015. "We should expect to see volatility continue and Petronas will not bank on optimistic oil prices to ease up on pressure," said Wan Zulkiflee. To this, he noted that the group was enforcing fiscal discipline regardless of oil movements and the need to strengthen its portfolio by growing its high-margin business and high-grading low-margin business. He said upstream production growth in the second quarter improved by three per cent at 2.33 million barrels per day compared to the corresponding period last year. The increase was contributed by enhanced gas production streams from Indonesia and Algeria as well as improved facilities' uptime and efficiency in Malaysia and Canada. Cash flows from operating activities for the first six months of 2016 was RM25.6 billion, a 26 per cent decrease from the same period last year. Petronas has achieved a 14 per cent controllable operation expenditure reduction as at June 30, 2016. Zulkiflee said Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex project was on track at 36 per cent overall progress. He added that the completion of construction would be in the first quarter of 2019 as planned. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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