PTT last week said its consolidated net profit jumped 72.5 per cent from Bt18.35 billion or Bt6.56 per share last year, to Bt31.66 billion or Bt11.32 per share this year.

"Despite decelerating economic growth, which resulted partly from the spike in oil prices, Thailand's overall petroleum consumption in the second quarter remained at a high level," PTT said in its filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday.

Prices of crude oil, oil products, natural gas and petrochemical products rose sharply in the quarter, helping PTT and its subsidiaries to score revenues of Bt313.25 billion - an increase of 39.6 per cent or Bt88.88 billion on year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 35.4 per cent, or Bt10.03 billion, to Bt38.36 billion, mainly from petroleum exploration and production and the consolidation of petrochemical businesses.

Of PTT's eight listed subsidiaries, Rayong Refinery yesterday said its consolidated operating results improved 58 per cent, thanks to the improvement in gross refinery margin (GRM) from US$8.41 (Bt315) per barrel in the second quarter last year to $10.62 per barrel.

The healthier GRM resulted from a rise in world oil prices coupled with outstanding plant performance - average intake for the quarter was 157,000 barrels per day, equivalent to a utilisation rate of 105 per cent of nameplate capacity.

Another PTT unit, Thai Oil Plc, said last week its consolidated net profit surged 95 per cent due mainly to strengthening of both its GRM and the baht. The climb in product prices pushed its GRM up to $10.62 per barrel from $6.55 the year before.

Aromatics (Thailand) Plc last week said it saw its second-quarter net profit beat last year's results by 17 per cent.

The company turned in a profit from normal operations of Bt1.09 billion, excluding a non-recurring expense of Bt77 million for turnaround costs and valuation gains on finished goods inventory of Bt40 million and on foreign exchange of Bt117 million.

PTT Chemical Plc last week said thicker product-to-feed margins caused its consolidated net profit to skyrocket 98 per cent on year. Average ethylene and propylene spot prices in this region are $1,118 per tonne and $1,081 per tonne, respectively, following increases of 41 per cent and 16 per cent from the previous year. The naphtha feedstock price has risen 40 per cent to $591 per tonne in a year.

PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) earlier said its consolidated net profit grew 33 per cent year on year, even though its total revenue of Bt23.69 billion was 60 per cent (Bt8.89 billion) higher. This expansion in revenue was mainly due to a 60-per-cent increase in petroleum sales of Bt8.45 billion.

The average price was $37.61 per barrel of oil equivalent against $28.14 a barrel traded in the same quarter last year, while PTTEP sold 171,662 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quarter, up from 139,035 a year ago.