KUALA LUMPUR: Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd (PMRMB) posted RM61 million in net profit in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021, higher by 44 per cent than the RM42 million in the same quarter of 2020.
Higher domestic sales and improved efficiencies drove the significant improvement.
Boosted by Malaysia's National Recovery Plan, the Q4 saw the reopening of more economic sectors, well-timed with the holiday season.
Overall demand increased, and the company's volume reached 7.2 million barrels during the period, up 7 per cent over the same quarter in the previous year.
Coupled with improvements in oil prices, revenues grew to RM3 billion in Q4 from last year's RM1.5 billion.
For full-year 2021, Petron generated a net profit of RM238 million, a full reversal from its RM13 million net loss incurred in 2020, driven by the uptrend in global oil prices, improved efficiencies and recovery in domestic demand in the Q4 of 2021.
While domestic demand picked up in the latter part of the year, the company's total sales volume of 26.4 million barrels in 2021 was moderated by the pandemic's full-year impact, slightly lower than in 2020.
As the global economy gradually reopens, average Dated Brent prices in 2021 significantly improved to US$71 per barrel from US$42 per barrel in 2020.
Petron Malaysia grew its revenues for the year by 42 per cent to RM9.2 billion compared to RM6.5 billion in 2020, while its gross profit tripled to RM538 million compared to RM167 million in 2020.
"We can certainly attribute the economic recovery that Malaysia is now experiencing to the government's successful National Recovery Plan and National Immunisation Programme.
"For our part, Petron Malaysia will continue to ensure the sufficient and reliable supply of our world-class products while creating more value for customers, shareholders, and communities as we look forward to even better times ahead," Petron chairman Ramon S Ang said in a statement today.
Despite the pandemic, the company completed its significant investments in 2021.
The Diesel Hydrotreater and Marine Import Facility 2 are now both operational, further contributing to cost savings and efficiencies.
Petron Malaysia also opened 18 new service stations with sister companies and expanded its LPG outlets to about 100 Petron service stations nationwide.