China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (386), Asia’s biggest refiner, posted a 24 percent increase in first-half net income after its refining business returned to profit, outperforming PetroChina Co.
Net income rose to 30.3 billion yuan ($4.95 billion), or 0.25 yuan a share, from 24.5 billion yuan, or 0.21 yuan, a year earlier, the Beijing-based company, known as Sinopec, said yesterday in a filing.
The average of seven analyst estimates, compiled by Bloomberg, was a profit of 31 billion yuan.China’s government shortened the window for retail fuel-price adjustments to 10 days from 22 days in March, allowing gasoline and diesel rates to more closely track Sinopec’s crude costs.
The company processed almost double what PetroChina refined as better technology and modern refineries helped it make a 200 million yuan profit from the business, compared with a 18.5 billion yuan loss a year earlier.
“Sinopec’s sophisticated refining technologies and good cost control allowed it to stay afloat,” Shi Yan, an analyst at UOB-Kay Hian Ltd. in Shanghai, said by phone yesterday.
“It will have a very good third quarter and second half as long as the government sticks to its promise of allowing domestic fuel prices to track international crude prices closely.”
PetroChina (857)’s refining loss narrowed to 7.8 billion yuan from 23.3 billion yuan a year earlier. Asia’s largest company by market capitalization processed 67.5 million metric tons of oil, compared with Sinopec’s 115.4 million tons.
Refining Business
Sinopec has honed its refining business to increase efficiency and reduce costs, while PetroChina, which is more focused on oil and gas production, hasn’t given the business enough attention, UOB’s Shi said. Sales increased 5 percent to 1.42 trillion yuan, Sinopec said in the statement. Production rose 3.8 percent to 219 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Overseas output climbed 5.8 percent to 11.7 million barrels during the period. Sinopec’s capital expenditure was 52 billion yuan in the first half, with 25 billion yuan of that spent on exploration and production.
While the refiner credited the government’s fuel-price reform with a better margin in the six months, there is still some way to go for retail prices to accurately mirror global crude movement, Shi said. China’s price regulator cut retail fuel prices by about 800 yuan a ton between March and June.
The last raise of about 100 yuan a ton in June may have been delayed on government concern higher energy prices will curb growth, Shi said.
Diesel Demand
Both Sinopec and PetroChina reported weaker demand for diesel, closely associated with industrial production, as China faces the slowest growth since the global financial crisis in 2008.
China’s growth slowed to 7.5 percent in the second quarter, down from 7.7 percent in the first quarter of this year and 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The refiner is the last among China’s three biggest oil companies to report half-year results. PetroChina posted a 5.6 percent increase in first-half profit on Aug. 22, and Cnooc Ltd. (883), China’s biggest offshore oil and gas explorer, posted a 7.9 percent gain in profit on Aug. 20. Cnooc has no refining business.
bloomberg.com
Net income rose to 30.3 billion yuan ($4.95 billion), or 0.25 yuan a share, from 24.5 billion yuan, or 0.21 yuan, a year earlier, the Beijing-based company, known as Sinopec, said yesterday in a filing.
The average of seven analyst estimates, compiled by Bloomberg, was a profit of 31 billion yuan.China’s government shortened the window for retail fuel-price adjustments to 10 days from 22 days in March, allowing gasoline and diesel rates to more closely track Sinopec’s crude costs.
The company processed almost double what PetroChina refined as better technology and modern refineries helped it make a 200 million yuan profit from the business, compared with a 18.5 billion yuan loss a year earlier.
“Sinopec’s sophisticated refining technologies and good cost control allowed it to stay afloat,” Shi Yan, an analyst at UOB-Kay Hian Ltd. in Shanghai, said by phone yesterday.
“It will have a very good third quarter and second half as long as the government sticks to its promise of allowing domestic fuel prices to track international crude prices closely.”
PetroChina (857)’s refining loss narrowed to 7.8 billion yuan from 23.3 billion yuan a year earlier. Asia’s largest company by market capitalization processed 67.5 million metric tons of oil, compared with Sinopec’s 115.4 million tons.
Refining Business
Sinopec has honed its refining business to increase efficiency and reduce costs, while PetroChina, which is more focused on oil and gas production, hasn’t given the business enough attention, UOB’s Shi said. Sales increased 5 percent to 1.42 trillion yuan, Sinopec said in the statement. Production rose 3.8 percent to 219 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Overseas output climbed 5.8 percent to 11.7 million barrels during the period. Sinopec’s capital expenditure was 52 billion yuan in the first half, with 25 billion yuan of that spent on exploration and production.
While the refiner credited the government’s fuel-price reform with a better margin in the six months, there is still some way to go for retail prices to accurately mirror global crude movement, Shi said. China’s price regulator cut retail fuel prices by about 800 yuan a ton between March and June.
The last raise of about 100 yuan a ton in June may have been delayed on government concern higher energy prices will curb growth, Shi said.
Diesel Demand
Both Sinopec and PetroChina reported weaker demand for diesel, closely associated with industrial production, as China faces the slowest growth since the global financial crisis in 2008.
China’s growth slowed to 7.5 percent in the second quarter, down from 7.7 percent in the first quarter of this year and 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The refiner is the last among China’s three biggest oil companies to report half-year results. PetroChina posted a 5.6 percent increase in first-half profit on Aug. 22, and Cnooc Ltd. (883), China’s biggest offshore oil and gas explorer, posted a 7.9 percent gain in profit on Aug. 20. Cnooc has no refining business.
bloomberg.com
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