Net Profit Hits Record RM61b

KUALA LUMPUR: National oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd yesterday announced its sixth year of record profits, helped mainly by higher global oil and gas prices.

Net profit in the year ended March 31, 2008 jumped 31.5 per cent to RM61 billion from RM46.4 billion in 2007.

Revenue was also up 21.2 per cent to RM223.1 billion.

Oil prices have almost doubled over the past year. Prices in New York hit a high of US$147.27 (RM474) a barrel on July 11. Strong Asian demand for oil has been blamed for the price surge while others contend that speculation is the main reason.

“We have performed quite well. This is a historic set of numbers for us,” Petronas president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican said when announcing the results.

Increased overseas production and higher prices for crude oil, petrochemical and liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices played a big role in its performance.

Petroleum products contributed 36 per cent to revenue, followed by its crude oil business that accounted for 26 per cent.

Hassan said despite a challenging year, the group had contained the impact of high costs and posted a 25.2 per cent increase in pre- tax profit to RM95.5 billion.

The group’s capital expenditure increased by 33.3 per cent to RM37.6 billion, largely due to the rise in cost.

The same amount is expected to be spent this year.

During the period under review, Hassan said Petronas’ reserves fell 0.5 per cent to the equivalent of 26.37 billion barrels of oil.

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