Malaysia's Petronas records higher profit in Q3

Malaysia's state oil giant Petronas said Wednesday that it had recorded higher profit in the third quarter following consolidation effort.

The company said the third quarter earnings had shown improved performance from the preceding quarter in some key metrics despite prolonged market challenges, thanks to its group wide efforts to reduce costs, improve efficiency in cash management and sustain operational efficiencies as well as lower net impairment on assets and well costs.

The company recorded a revenue of 48.7 billion ringgit (11 billion U.S. dollar), a 1 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. Profit after tax (PAT) also rose from 1.6 billion ringgit (0.36 billion U.S. dollar) to 6.1 billion ringgit (1.39 billion U.S. dollar), a significant improvement from the second quarter.

For the first nine months of 2016, Petronas had a profit after tax of 12.3 billion ringgit (2.8 billion U.S. dollar), a 48 percent decline compared to 23.8 billion ringgit (5.4 billion U.S. dollar) recorded the year before. This was posted on the back of a 146.3 billion ringgit (33.3 billion U.S. dollar) revenue, which fell by 22 percent from 2015.

"This was mainly due to the downward trend of key benchmark prices, higher net impairment on assets and well costs as well as lower sales volume of petroleum products, crude oil and condensates and processed gas," the company said in a statement.

The current oil price environment continues to pose significant challenges to the industry and the outlook remains uncertain, it said, adding that the company has been responsive with strong operational efficiency and financial discipline. Endit