This article was first published on Rigzone here
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) on Monday posted CNY 8.54 billion ($1.2 billion) in net profit attributable to shareholders for the third quarter, 52.1 percent lower than the same three-month period last year as refining margins and domestic demand for diesel weakened.
Excluding extraordinary gains and losses, net income for the July–September 2024 quarter stood at CNY 8.39 billion ($1.17 billion). Earnings per share landed at CNY 0.07, according to a regulatory disclosure.
The state-backed integrated energy company dipped 0.16 percent to CNY 6.44 ($0.9) Monday and opened at CNY 6.32 ($0.88) Tuesday on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In Hong Kong, it closed Monday at HKD 4.51 ($0.58) and opened Tuesday at HKD 4.37 ($0.56).
“Due to the [fact that] crude oil prices rose in the third quarter of previous year and dropped rapidly in the third quarter of this year, the inventory gain substantially decreased year-on-year, and margin of petroleum and chemical products also decreased”, stated the filing on the HKEX portal.
“Facing severe challenges brought by the rapidly decreasing oil prices and narrowing margin of certain products, the Company adhered to the integration of production and marketing by closely following market demand, optimized and adjusted utilization rate and product mix, increased production of market-oriented products such as gasoline and jet fuel, and reduced the diesel output”, Sinopec said.
It reported “weak diesel demand and rapid growth of electric vehicles”, though the company is also seeking to capitalize on the electric transport boom by offering charging services.
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Total refinery throughput in the third quarter dropped 1.6 percent year-on-year to 190.69 million metric tons, with diesel output decreasing 10.7 percent.
While total sales of refined oil products, including overseas operations, increased 0.6 percent year-on-year, sales in China fell 3.2 percent to 138.06 million metric tons.
Upstream, Sinopec’s crude oil output in the third quarter increased 0.3 percent to 211.29 million barrels, of which 190.42 million barrels came from China. Natural gas production rose 5.6 percent to one trillion cubic feet.
Sinopec recorded CNY 12.57 billion ($1.62 billion) in operating profit for the third quarter, down 50.9 percent year-on-year. Net cash flow from operating activities totaled CNY 101.54 billion ($13.07 billion), up 3.3 percent year-on-year.