Thai Oil tops PTT's refinery profits
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PTT Group's listed refineries posted a 122-per-cent increase in net profit for the first nine months of the year, with combined earnings of Bt24.34 billion and Thai Oil being the highest contributor of the three.
However, they recorded a 6-per-cent decline year on year in net profit for the third quarter, at Bt2.95 billion.
For the first nine months, Thai Oil registered net profit of Bt12.99 billion, up 141.5 per cent from the same period a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing yesterday.
Bangchak Petroleum posted a 195.2-per-cent jump to Bt5.05 billion in the period, while IRPC had a 62.8-per-cent rise to Bt6.3 billion after suffering a loss of Bt177 million in the third quarter.
Nitima Thepvanangkul, deputy managing director for finance at Thai Oil, cited increases in the price of Dubai crude to US$107 a barrel during the nine months, from $73 in the same period last year, for the profit rises.
The increases in the price of crude were attributable to unrest in oil-exporting countries, depreciation of the US dollar and an increased differential for aromatics prices as a result of higher regional demand, she said.
These factors had helped increase the group’s gross refinery margin, including the oil-stock effect, by $1.20 per barrel to $7.20 (Bt221).
Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) research said Thai Oil’s net profit was slightly higher than expected because of foreign-exchange gains, despite some loss from its oil stock.
Profit is likely to be sustained in the current quarter, Kim Eng said, maintaining its net-profit estimate for the refiner at Bt15.1 billion for the full year.
Although the price gap between diesel and jet fuel will widen further, domestic demand for oil could decline because of the flood crisis, the brokerage added.
DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand) said Thai Oil’s “earnings visibility could weaken over the next six to 12 months amid a softening global economy and declining in oil prices”.
The securities house forecasts Thai Oil’s net profit at Bt14.02 billion this year and Bt12.56 billion in 2012.
