China Aviation Oil posts 27.6% drop in H2 profit to US$32.6m

CHINA Aviation Oil (CAO) on Friday posted a 27.6 per cent drop in net profit to US$32.6 million for its second half ended Dec 31, 2020, from US$45 million a year ago.

The mainboard-listed jet fuel trader saw a decrease in gross profit and share of results from associates due to impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as an increase in expenses, partially offset by the increase in other income, it said in a bourse filing.

The results translate to earnings per share (EPS) of 3.79 US cents for the second half of 2020, against EPS of 5.24 cents for the same period a year ago.

Revenue for the six months ended December tumbled 51.8 per cent to US$5.14 billion, from US$10.66 billion a year ago, as oil prices slipped.

Share of profits from associates stood at US$20.9 million for the second half, down 23.3 per cent from US$27.3 million a year ago, on lower contributions from Pudong.

For the full year ended Dec 31, 2020, CAO's net profit fell 43.7 per cent to US$56.2 million, from US$99.8 million a year ago. (See amendment note.) This was mainly due to the drop in gross profit and share of results from associates due to the pandemic's impact, partially offset by the decrease in expenses.

The group's revenue declined by 48.3 per cent on the year to US$10.52 billion, from US$20.34 billion, mainly due to the decrease in oil prices and volume as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

EPS stood at 6.53 US cents, compared with 11.61 US cents for FY2019.

CAO's board of directors has proposed a final dividend of 2.58 Singapore cents per share for the full year, subject to shareholder approval at a forthcoming annual general meeting. The date payable and record date will be announced in due course, the group said.

CAO shares closed 1.7 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$1.14 on Friday.

Amendment note: A previous version of the story misstated the drop in full-year net profit as a rise.