Kuala Lumpur, 12 February 2015 – PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad (PDB) registered a profit before tax of RM709.3 million for the year ended at 31 December 2014 a decrease of 36% as compared to previous year. The lower profit was due to the lower gross margin attributed to the steep decline in global crude oil prices.

Revenue for the year ended at 31 December 2014 was RM32,341.0 million, a slight decrease of RM0.9 million compared to the previous year, largely due to the decrease in sales volume.

“The market environment for the oil and gas business has been very challenging thus far. The downward trend of crude oil prices and decrease in sales volume, have impacted our overall performance,” said Mohd Ibrahimnuddin Mohd Yunus, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of PDB.

“We have interventions in place, to address the current cost environment including managing operating expenses through cost reduction efforts, inventory optimisation, enhancing supply and distribution efficiency and re-prioritisation of projects,” he added.

Earnings per share decreased from 81.7 sen as at 31 December 2013 to 50.5 sen as a result of lower profit for the year under review.

The Total Equity Attributable to Shareholders as at 31 December 2014 was RM4,752.2 million, a decrease from the previous year's RM4,790.1 million.

The overall Retail Business saw a decrease in revenue of 8%, mainly impacted by a decrease in sales volume for diesel, which was impacted by softening demand from the industry due to cautious consumer spending as well as regulatory and policy changes.

“While fuel is a major component of PDB’s Retail Business, we see a lot of opportunities in the other components within our Retail Business that we can leverage on. Our Kedai Mesra chargeable sales achieved RM1 billion in the last financial year, exemplifying the strength of our network of one-stop convenience stores."

"With over 700 Kedai Mesra complementing our offerings at over 1,000 PETRONAS Stations nationwide, we also partner with a variety of merchants to give more value to our customers,” said Ibrahimnuddin.

For the Commercial segment, the decrease in gross profit by 2% was mainly due to lower sales volume by 7% against the previous year’s.

Meanwhile, the volume growth of PDB's LPG Business increased compared to the same period last year, sustaining its domestic market leadership position as Malaysia's No. 1 Cooking Gas.

The Lubricants Business achieved an increase in sales volume and revenue by 5% due to ongoing promotional and marketing activities.

"It has been a challenging year for PDB, in particular due to the steep fall of oil prices globally which further impacted the already volatile external market environment. However, we see these challenges as a motivation for us to push harder and innovate our offerings to win the market and come on top as the Brand of Choice for Malaysian consumers," concluded Ibrahimnuddin.