Petron consolidated earnings down 12% in Q1

Petron Corporation's consolidated net income for the first quarter of the year was P2.2 billion, down 12 percent year-on-year from P2.5 billion as retail prices for crude oil and finished products dropped during the period against higher costing inventory, the company said Monday. In the first quarter Dubai crude averaged $108.19 per barrel, $8.26 per barrel less than $116.45 per barrel in the same period in 2012.   However, Petron Malaysia's consolidation in the second quarter of last year boosted revenues by 50 percent to P112 billion from P74.7 billion in Q1 2012, and total sales volumes by 66 percent to 20 million barrels from 12 million barrels. In the local retail sector, Petron registered a 7-percent growth in sales volume, which the company attrtibuted to its expansion activities. Petron currently has 2,070 service stations nationwide. It has also rebranded 125 of the 550 Esso/Mobil service stations in Malaysia to Petron and upgraded their facilities and services. The company expects to complete its rebranding program by 2014. As of end-March, Petron's $2-billion expansion plan Refinery Master Plan Phase 2  is 70 percent finished, scheduled to be done by mid-2014. The company expects it to increase the production of gasoline, diesel, and petrochemicals at its Bataan Refinery. — BM, GMA News