Thai Oil Q1 net profit flat, above forecast

12-May-2012 Intellasia | Reuters | 7:01 AM

Thai Oil Pcl, Thailand’s top oil refiner, said on Wednesday its quarterly net profit was flat from a year earlier.

Thai Oil, nearly half-owned by top energy firm PTT Pcl, posted a January-March net profit of 7.23 billion baht ($233.26 million), the same as a year earlier. It compared to the 5.9 billion forecast by 11 analysts surveyed by Reuters.

But profit surged from 1.86 billion baht in the fourth quarter due to higher inventory gains and a recovery in its aromatic petrochemical business after global crude oil prices rose.

Thai Oil has a refining capacity of 275,000 barrels a day of crude oil and other feedstocks, representing about 22 percent of Thailand’s total, and also runs paraxylene petrochemical and lubricant businesses through subsidiaries.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/09/thaioil-results-idUSL4E8G42UB20120509