Net profit up but revenue down for China's Sinopec as diesel demand falls

By Sherry Qin

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (HK:386) (CN:600028)reported a rise in its first-half net profit but lower revenue due to a decline in demand for diesel.

Net profit for the first six months ended June rose 1.7% to 35.70 billion yuan, equivalent to $5.01 billion, while revenue fell 1.1% from a year earlier to 1.576 trillion yuan, the Chinese state-owned oil-and-gas major, also known as Sinopec, said Sunday.

Capital expenditure totaled 55.89 billion yuan and was mainly used for crude and natural gas production, it said.

Sinopec said sales of petroleum products, which make up more than half of its revenue, came in at CNY920.4 billion, 0.6% lower on year mainly due to lower diesel sales.

The company plans to use between CNY800 million and CNY15 billion of its funds to repurchase A shares to "bring the company's stock market price into line with its intrinsic value," it said in a separate filing. The company has been repurchasing its A and H shares since November.

Sinopec expects domestic demand for natural gas and chemical products to continue growing in the second half of the year while the refined oil demand may remain stable.

Two other major Chinese oil producers, CNOOC (HK:883) and PetroChina (HK:857), are scheduled to report their results next week.

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08-25-24 2158ET

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