PTTEP POSTS 82% jump in Q2 profit, beating expectations

PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) posted a record-high consolidated second-quarter net profit, up almost 82 per cent year on year to just under Bt13 billion.

PTTEP is the Kingdom's largest publicly traded oil and gas explorer.

Its earnings beat several brokerage estimates that averaged Bt11 billion.

Bualuang Securities previously predicted a net profit of Bt11.077 billion for PTTEP, while Kim Eng Securities expected Bt11.48 billion. KGI Securities (Thailand) estimated it would be Bt11.5 billion, and Phillip Securities predicted Bt10.993 billion.

Several houses also revised PTTEP's full-year earnings upwards.

KGI revised its net profit target 24.2 per cent to Bt44.7 billion, while Phillip adjusted earnings upwards by 15.94 per cent, from a previous estimate of Bt36.447 billion to Bt42.257 billion.

PTTEP said in a statement filed with the Stock Exchange of Thailand that the company and its subsidiaries generated a net profit of Bt12.99 billion, up 81.68 per cent from Bt7.15 billion in the same period last year.

The company booked a total revenue of Bt38.748 billion in the second quarter this year, up by 69 per cent from Bt22.961 billion in the same period last year.

Increases in both earnings and revenue were due to increased production and sales and higher petroleum prices.

In the second quarter, PTTEP successfully discovered petroleum in five out of six exploration appraisal wells.

The company especially increased petroleum-production activities in its Arthit Field.

Average export production last month was roughly 370 million standard cubic feet per day of gas and 19,300 barrels per day of condensate, which could accommodate increasing domestic demand.

PTTEP's second-quarter sales of petroleum increased, due to a higher average petroleum price, which rose to US$54.23 (Bt1,800) per barrel of oil equivalent.

As well, sales volume in the quarter rose to 232,634 barrels of oil equivalent per day, from 179,180 in the same period last year.

The increased sales volume came from petroleum sales in the Arthit, Bongkot and Pailin fields and crude-oil sales from Block G4/43.

For the first half of the year, PTTEP posted earnings of Bt21.9 billion, up 57.21 per cent from Bt13.93 billion in the same period last year.

The company generated revenue of Bt66.51 billion in that period, up 50 per cent year on year.

The increase was due mainly to higher sales of petroleum, up 53 per cent to Bt21.815 billion.