China Aviation Oil's Q1 profit falls 27% to US$14.4m

HIT by lower oil prices and thinner trading volumes, China Aviation Oil (Singapore)'s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015, fell 27.01 per cent to US$14.36 million compared to the year-ago period.

Revenue for the Asia-Pacific jet-fuel trader nearly halved to US$2.08 billion, versus US$4.03 billion last year.

The company acknowledged continued volatility in the oil markets as macroeconomic weakness restrains global oil demand growth and uncertainties continued to surround oil output restrictions.

"We expect the oil trading environment to remain challenging for the rest of the year amidst uncertainties in the oil supply and demand as well as geopolitical instability," it said.

Notwithstanding these factors, China Aviation Oil said it will continue to build on its global network, focusing on jet-fuel trading and aviation marketing, while seeking opportunities to invest in synergetic and strategic assets and synergetic businesses.

It added that it will also continue to expand its diversification into trading activities in other oil products and continue to pursue its long-term strategy to ensure sustainable and stable development of the company.

For the three months ended March 31, 2015, earnings per share stood at 1.67 US cents, compared to 2.29 US cents for the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, net asset value per share was 65.94 US cents, compared to 64.35 US cents in Q1 2014.

No dividends was declared for the quarter.

The counter closed trading up 0.57 per cent at S$0.885 on Thursday before the results were released.