CAO Q4 net profit rises 23.9% to US$18.7m on higher oil prices

JET fuel trader China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp's fourth-quarter net profit rose 23.9 per cent to US$18.7 million, from US$15.1 million a year ago, on the back of higher oil prices, the group said in a regulatory filing.

For the three months ended Dec 31, 2018, earnings per share was at 2.18 US cents, up from a restated 1.76 US cents the year before. The group is proposing a first and final dividend of 4.5 Singapore cents per share for fiscal 2018, unchanged from the year prior.

Net asset value per share stood at 89.42 US cents as at end-2018, up from 83.79 cents the year before.

Shares for China Aviation Oil (CAO) were trading at S$1.38 on Thursday as at 1.22pm.

Revenue increased 7.8 per cent to US$4.38 billion from US$4.06 billion a year ago. This came despite total supply and trading volume decreasing by 16.8 per cent to 6.82 million tonnes from 8.2 million tonnes a year ago.

For the full year, net profit rose 10.5 per cent to US$93.9 million from US$84.9 million a year ago. Full-year revenue rose 26.7 per cent to US$20.61 billion, from US$16.27 billion the year before. Total supply and trading volume for FY2018 was 34.85 million tonnes, compared to 37.31 million tonnes a year ago.

Total expenses for the whole of 2018 increased by 15.2 per cent to US$25.54 million from US$22.18 million the year prior, mainly attributable to higher staff costs and benefits, as well as higher interest expense from short-term borrowings.

Wang Yanjun, chief executive officer and executive director of CAO, said China's civil aviation industry and global travel growth trends will continue to present exciting opportunities for CAO amid expectations of slower economic growth and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties in the year ahead.

"With vigilant risk controls, we will continue to press ahead to expand our global integrated value chain, complemented by our diversification strategy as well as seek opportunities for bolt-on expansion through investments," Mr Wang said.