SET-listed PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR) wants to achieve 10% growth in net profit this year, though it needs to support the government's diesel price reduction policy by trimming the marketing margin of its diesel sales to below 2 baht a litre, says president and chief executive Disathat Panyarachun.
The cabinet approved a cut in diesel prices to around 30 baht a litre, down from 31.94 baht, by reducing the diesel excise tax by 2.5 baht a litre. To keep the new price at 29.99 baht a litre, oil retailers need to help by adjusting their marketing margin.
OR's marketing margin for gasoline, gasohol (a mix of gasoline and ethanol), and diesel is 1.9-2 baht a litre.
According to Mr Disathat, other petroleum products, including jet fuel, lube oil, liquefied petroleum gas and bitumen, are expected to have good sales prospects this year.
The company expects its jet fuel sales to grow by 60% to 3.2 billion litres this year, compared with 4 billion litres sold in 2019 before Thailand was affected by the pandemic.
OR commands a market share of 53% of jet fuel sales in Thailand.
These products, together with non-oil businesses, should help the company rake in more revenue this year, relieving the impact of the lower marketing margin of diesel sales, he said.
During the first half of this year, OR posted a revenue dip of 11.2% to 385 billion baht, while net profit plunged by 45% to 5.7 billion.
The lower earnings were attributed to the considerable decline in global oil prices.
OR estimates the Dubai crude oil reference price will decrease to US$86 per barrel on average this year, down from $96 per barrel in 2022.
The company also aims to earn more revenue from investments overseas.
Earlier it announced plans to spend $100 million to develop an oil depot in Cambodia following its co-investment in an aviation refuelling service in the neighbouring country.
The oil depot is expected to serve rapid growth of the post-pandemic Cambodian economy.