6 May 2014, Kuala Lumpur – PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad (PDB) registered a higher revenue of RM8,293.6 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2014, an increase of RM674.6 million as compared to the corresponding quarter last year. The higher revenue was mainly attributable to an increase in average selling price by 7% and an increase in sales volume by 1%.

Underlining the difficult operating environment during the period under review, PDB’s Group Profit Before Tax (PBT) was RM223.1 million, a decrease of RM103.9 million as compared to the corresponding quarter last year. This was due to lower gross profit resulting mainly from Means of Platts Singapore (MOPS) price movements and higher operating expenditure.

The higher operating expenditure was attributable to an increase in manpower expenses, depreciation and amortisation, and transportation expenses.

Mohd Ibrahimnuddin Mohd Yunus, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of PDB said, “It was a challenging first quarter for PDB. Despite increasing our sales volume in a highly competitive environment, MOPS price movements had impacted our Group gross profit, resulting in a gross profit of RM522.8 million, a decrease of RM61.0 million as compared to the corresponding quarter last year.”

“Moving forward, we will continue to demonstrate our resilience by strengthening our market leadership through implementing strategic marketing initiatives, developing innovative products and services to capture new customers or markets, as well as pushing ahead with our cost optimisation efforts,” he added.

Earnings per share decreased to 15.6 sen from 23.9 sen for the same quarter in the previous year. Shareholders’ fund as at 31 March 2014 was RM4,769.2 million, a decrease by RM20.9 million.

For the quarter ended 31 March 2014, the Retail Business continued to grow via its extensive network of over 1,000 retail stations as demonstrated by sales volume increase of 3.6%. Continuing to deliver convenience to its customers, Kedai Mesra achieved a strong income growth of over 10%.

“Our key focus for the remaining months of 2014 will be to strengthen the position of PETRONAS PRIMAX fuel, improve our network efficiency, and strengthen our product branding as well as provide excellent customer experience at our stations. Via these key focus areas, we aim to strengthen PETRONAS’ position as the leading downstream petroleum retailer in the country,” said Ibrahimnuddin.

Although Commercial Business registered slightly lower sales volume of 2%, the aviation continued to grow as we continue to support our existing major customers as well as entering into new partnerships with other major airlines. Moving forward, Commercial Business will continue to pursue value enhancement in domestic market via cost competitiveness and to leverage on PDB’s extensive supply and distribution network.

LPG Business further strengthened its position as Malaysia’s No.1 Cooking Gas through a 2% growth in its domestic sales volume. Household cylinder continued to be the main value driver as its gross margin improves by 5%. Cost optimisation via optimum operational excellence and supply synergies will be the main agenda for the remaining months of 2014 as the LPG Business continues to sustain its domestic market leadership position.

Sustaining its positive momentum will be the Lubricants Business as its volume grew by 12%. This was attributed by higher sales volume to its high street market and OEM customers. Lubricants Business will continue its aggressive expansion into the high street segment while leveraging on its superior product range including the recently introduced PETRONAS Syntium 7000. PETRONAS LubeXperts will continue to grow its network with an additional 40 outlets expected to be completed within the year.

“Each of our business segments has set clear strategies to ensure we continue to achieve commendable business performance, thus translating into strong value delivery to our shareholders. Furthermore, our robust supply and distribution network, supported by our solid track record, will continue to be the impetus for our future growth. PDB will remain focused on delivering innovative products and differentiated services to reinforce PETRONAS as the Brand of 1st Choice,” concluded Ibrahimnuddin.