Kuala Lumpur, 25 February 2020 – For the financial year ended 31 December 2019, PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad (PDB) sales volume grew by 5%, more than double the industry growth. This has contributed to the increase of the Company’s revenue to RM30,293.6 million.

For the same period, PDB registered a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of RM1,128.9 million which marks the Company’s fifth successful year in sustaining its PBT above RM1 billion.

For the quarter ended 31 December 2019, PDB increased its PBT by more than 100% to RM190.6 million against same period last year following strengthened petroleum product prices.

Speaking about the Company’s performance, PDB Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Azrul Osman Rani said, “We are pleased to have performed higher than market expectations following our relentless efforts in carrying out more customer-centric initiatives, which has pushed our sales volume. Demand for our products has increased, especially since we launched the PETRONAS Primax 95 with Pro-Drive, a superior quality product that most of our customers have attested to. In comparison to last year’s performance, Retail business recorded a 16% growth in gross profit and a 7% increase in sales volume”.

Commercial business registered an increase of 8% in gross profit and 4% in sales volume primarily from higher demand for Diesel, Jet A1 and Bitumen. Despite a competitive and declining market, LPG business recorded a 1% volume growth. Lubricant business’ gross profit increased by 1% despite registering lower sales volume by 17%, attributable to higher product margin.

Azrul added, “With the nationwide launch of SETEL and introduction of ROVR, PDB continues to provide a seamless and frictionless experience to customers. SETEL is an advanced retail intelligence platform that upgrades the fuel payment, loyalty and retail experience, while ROVR is the country’s first mobile refueling service.

PDB has declared an interim dividend of 25 sen per ordinary share and a special dividend of 15 sen per ordinary share for the quarter ended 31 December 2019. For the financial year 2019, PDB has declared total dividend of 85 sen per ordinary share, which represents 104% payout ratio.

In a separate filing to Bursa, PDB announced the appointment of its new Chief Financial Officer, Farzlina Ahmad Murad effective 1 March 2020. She is currently the Head (Finance) at Strategy, Finance & Risk Department overseeing 21 companies under the downstream business. Farzlina has over 20 years of experience, out of which she spent 17 years in PETRONAS, spearheading various corporate finance matters across the companies under the Group.

Farzlina will be taking over from Norliwati Abd Wahab, who will be assuming a new role under the PETRONAS Group as part of her career progression plan. PDB thanks Norliwati for her contribution to the Company over the last three years. She has been instrumental in managing the Company and its subsidiaries’ finance, risk management and investor relations matters during her tenure in PDB.