Thailand’s largest oil and gas explorer PTT Exploration and Production PCL (PTTEP), has reported second quarter profits slumped 94%, dragged by a fall in revenue, and foreign exchange and oil hedging losses.
PTTEP, the flagship of top Thai energy firm PTT PCL’s upstream business, however maintained its sales volume growth forecast of 3% for 2015.
Net profit was 1.31billion baht ($35 million) in the April-June quarter, lower than the average 1.75billion baht forecast by 12 analysts polled by Reuters. This compared with a profit of $560million in the same period a year earlier.
Second-quarter revenue fell nearly a third to $1.5billion, while profit from normal operations dropped 64% from a year earlier to $194million, the company said.
Analysts said second-quarter profit would be the lowest of the year for PTTEP and expected a recovery in the third quarter.
First-half sales volume rose to 326,335 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 6 percent from a year earlier, while average selling prices dropped 27 percent to $48.61 a barrel from $66.35 a year earlier.
PTTEP, which has cash of more than $3billion, is looking for opportunity to buy assets overseas especially projects which are under production phases, the company said.
PThe company also said it expected to cut costs by at least 10% of the announced expenditure plan.
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