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Petron expects better FY2015 earnings, launches RON100 fuel
By Sulhi Azman / theedgemarkets.com | January 15, 2016 : 3:46 PM MYT
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SHAH ALAM (Jan 15): Petron Malaysia Refining and Marketing Bhd ( Valuation: 0.30, Fundamental: 1.20) — which operates 560 petroleum retail station nationwide — expects to chalk "positive numbers" for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2015 (FY2015), while hoping for future sales to grow by 5% annually, said its operations manager Jimmy Lu.

"We don't give hard numbers when it comes to profit forecast. But as you can see from our latest numbers, we are moving into the positive territory. And going by the trend, we will be expecting some good numbers ahead," he told reporters after witnessing the launch of RON100 fuel by Dommestic Trade, Consumerism and Co-operative (KPDNKK) Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin here today.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, 2015 (9MFY2015), Petron recorded a net profit of RM204.36 million as compared to net loss of RM16.89 million, on better operating efficiency, stable margin and growth in sales volume.

"We have yet to report our fourth quarter numbers, and you will be able to better gauge our performance, once it is filed with the stock exchange later," Lu added.

While declining to provide short-term crude oil forecast, Lu said, "the global prices has stabilised with more favourable margin".

"Everyone is affected by the low oil price environment. We are managing our business risk to make sure that we are able to at least cushion the impact of this volatility, in terms of crude prices and foreign exchange," he reasoned.

Meanwhile, Petron is the first retail oil company in the country to offer RON100 fuel — the latest automobile fuel with the highest research octane number — at eight stations in Klang Valley.

The fuel is currently produced at its refinery plant in Port Dickson, which has the crude distillation capacity of 88,000 barrels per day.

"The plant is running at around 50% to 60% capacity. And our job is to increase and maximise the remaining capacity that we have," Lu added.

According to Petron's head of retail, Faridah Ali, the group is selling the RON100 fuel at RM2.80 per litre, the price of which is not currently regulated by the government.

For comparison, data from Phillipines' Department of Energy showed as of Jan 7, 2016, Petron's selling price per litre for the RON100 fuel ranges from 38.10 peso (RM3.49) to 43.20 peso (RM3.96).

"At the moment, the government controls the price for diesel, RON95 and RON97. Since we are the first to introduce RON100, the price is not regulated, but we will adhere to the pricing mechanism guideline as set by KPDNKK," she added.

Faridah declined to reveal the base-price for the RON100 fuel, but said the price is based on many factors that include economic production and feedstock cost.

"We could change the selling price of RON100 everyday, but we have no intention to do that at the moment. For now, we will adhere to the managed-float mechanism, where the petrol price will change by the first day of every month," she said.

Faridah also declined to provide sales volume forecast for RON100 fuel, but she expects "strong demand", as consumers switch to better quality fuel in the long run.

From January to September last year, Petron sold a total of 23.1 million barrels of fuels.

At noon-break today, Petron closed 3.59% higher at RM6.63, with a market capitalisation of RM1.79 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)