Petronas' profit drops 23% to US$13 billion

Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas Bhd reported a 23.2% drop in net profit for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 to RM40.3 billion (US$12.5 billion) due to weak demand and lower prices. The group’s revenue for the year stood at RM216.4 billion ringgit (US$67.5 billion), 18.1% lower than the previous year, as a result of lower sales prices despite higher sales volumes, it said in a statement. Petronas’ new boss, Shamsul Azhar Abbas, said Petronas has budgeted RM40 billion (US$12.47 billion) for capital expenditure in Fiscal Year 2010-11, up from RM37 billion (US$11.5 billion) a year earlier. (July 1, 2010)