OR reviews overseas growth strategy as Cambodia sales plunge
OR is reassessing its Cambodia operations after first-quarter fuel sales fell 72.8%, with cost cuts, restructuring or an exit under consideration
PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc, or OR, is reassessing its future in Cambodia after fuel sales in the market plunged 72.8% year on year in the first quarter of 2026.
The company recorded sales of 46 million litres during the quarter, compared with 169 million litres in the same period of 2025. The decline followed the outbreak of clashes along the Thai-Cambodian border in July last year, which disrupted a market that OR had previously positioned as a potential “second home” for its overseas business.
Sales had already fallen to 54 million litres in the final quarter of 2025, well below the more than 150 million litres OR had regularly sold per quarter before the border conflict.
Overseas growth strategy under review
OR chief executive officer ML Peekthong Thongyai said at a business briefing in February that the company’s overseas expansion over recent years had been intended to build long-term sources of revenue.
However, the increasingly uncertain global environment and intensifying competition had prompted OR to examine the financial viability and profit potential of each overseas market more closely.
Over the next five years, the company will shift away from expanding primarily through the number of countries in which it operates and instead place greater emphasis on the quality of each investment.
“The new strategy is ‘Concentrate’,” ML Peekthong said. “We will no longer view global expansion in terms of increasing the number of countries, but will assess each country individually — where we are strong, where we can continue and where we should slow down or adjust the business model.”
OR’s official financial data showed that its Global business generated revenue of 13.91 billion baht in the first quarter, up from 8.45 billion baht in the previous quarter but below the 14.49 billion baht recorded a year earlier. The group’s total first-quarter revenue stood at 176.13 billion baht, while net profit fell 44.9% year on year to 2.42 billion baht.
Three-stage plan for Cambodia
ML Peekthong acknowledged that the Cambodian operation was facing serious difficulties and could no longer be managed under the same approach used in the past.
OR has therefore set out a three-stage response. The first involves a comprehensive assessment of the investment, covering its financial position, risks and prospects for recovery.
The second stage would focus on cutting costs and restructuring the operation to keep it viable if the company determines that a recovery remains possible.
Under the final stage, OR would consider a systematic withdrawal if conditions deteriorated to the point where the business could no longer continue. Such a move would be intended to limit longer-term risks and minimise further losses.
The company had aimed to reach a conclusion on its Cambodia investment during the first half of 2026 to prevent prolonged uncertainty from affecting its wider portfolio.
Although Cambodia contributes only about 2-3% of OR’s total revenue, Peekthong said any decision to scale back or withdraw would carry broader strategic significance by demonstrating the company’s focus on investment quality and proactive risk management.
OR maintains extensive Cambodian network
As of the first quarter, OR’s Cambodian network comprised 91 PTT Stations, 136 Café Amazon outlets, 44 7-Eleven and Jiffy convenience stores, and five fuel terminals. Its fuel sales totalled 46 million litres during the period.
The company also maintains major overseas operations in the Philippines and Laos.
In the Philippines, OR operated 170 PTT Stations, six Café Amazon outlets and two fuel terminals, with quarterly sales of 403 million litres.
Its Lao business comprised 60 PTT Stations, 113 Café Amazon outlets, four FIT Auto branches, seven fuel terminals and two convenience stores, with sales of 70 million litres.
Revenue from OR’s overseas sales and services rose by 5.46 billion baht, or 64.5%, from the fourth quarter of 2025, supported by a 146-million-litre increase in total sales volume and higher average selling prices in line with global oil prices.
The improvement was driven mainly by stronger wholesale diesel sales in the Philippines.
Sales in Laos declined, particularly for diesel in the retail and commercial markets, because of limited domestic supplies linked to conflict in the Middle East. Cambodian sales also weakened across most product categories, led by aviation fuel, while Café Amazon sales fell as the number of branches in Cambodia decreased.
Source: Bangkokbiznews
