PetroVietnam books robust growth for four-month period

PetroVietnam's recent periodical online meeting at different member units to review four-month 2021 performance

Along with this, the company’s business performance in the first four months of this year has gone far beyond expectations.

The cumulative consolidated revenue during the four-month period reached an estimated VND124.4 trillion ($5.4 billion), a 21 per cent jump over the projection, equal to 35 per cent of the full-year plan and up 47 per cent on-year.

Total budget contribution came to an estimated VND27.5 trillion ($1.2 billion), far beyond the projection as well as previous year's figure.

Notably, PetroVietnam's pretax profit rose 2.5-fold compared to the projection to VND15.42 trillion ($670.43 million), equal to 94 per cent of the full-year plan and a 2.46-fold increase against a year ago.

PetroVietnam CEO Le Manh Hung giving remarks during the online meeting

The figures were released in a recent periodical online meeting presided by PetroVietnam CEO Le Manh Hung with leaders of its member units to review the first four-month production and business results of the parent company and member units and discuss ways to efficiently implement the tasks in May and the forthcoming months.

In the first months of 2021, with close guidance from leaders of PetroVietnam and member units, the company’s investment projects have witnessed marked improvements.

All member units have managed stable performance during the period, with 17 out of its 22 units operating profitably. Other activities like ensuring occupational safety, security at oil and gas projects, or fire prevention at project sites were closely supervised and implemented with prudence.

PetroVietnam CEO Le Manh Hung overseeing overhaul activities at Phu My Fertiliser Plant on May 7, 2021

On April 7, Fitch Ratings, one of the top three credit rating agencies internationally, has revised the outlook for PetroVietnam to from "stable" to “positive”.

Fitch Ratings has also assessed PetroVietnam’s standalone credit profile at “BB+” and long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating at “BB”.

The assessments followed Fitch Ratings’ upgrade of the "BB" outlook for Vietnam from “stable” to “positive” earlier this month.

These positive assessments reflected Fitch Ratings’ recognition of the achievements that PetroVietnam posted in dealing with fuel impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising oil prices in 2020.

While a slew of companies on equal footing around the world were mired down in hardships, PetroVietnam has outperformed most business targets.

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across Southeast Asia, particularly in countries sharing borderlines with Vietnam like Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. In the domestic market, first community transmissions were spotted in late April, and the situation has been growing increasingly complicated.

Leveraging experience in fighting pandemic implications in 2020, PetroVietnam’s member units have kept close tabs on the situation and worked on response plans to ensure safety and business continuity.

The activities on COVID-19 prevention and treatment were strictly adhered to in the whole group. Until present, no COVID-19 infection was reported in the whole PetroVietnam system.

At the recent May 7 periodical online meeting, PetroVietnam CEO Le Manh Hung noted that the whole group’s stable and efficient operation in the first four months this year deserves recognition, making important contributions to the country’s socioeconomic development.

Employees on duty at PV Power Ha Tinh, a member unit under PetroVietnam

Besides favourable factors from the rising global oil prices, a large part of this success came from the whole group’s strenuous efforts to take on wide-ranging measures to push up production and bolster governance efficiency, he said.

To promote further achievements and tackle growing COVID-19 complexities, Hung urged member units to be vigilant of the pandemic situation and associated risks, reviewing business targets and duties for implementation in this second quarter and completing unsettled duties from the first quarter.

It is also important to keep an eye on factors like inflation and the exchange rate to adequately assess the group’s resources for production and business, focusing on ensuring safe, stable, and efficient production, availing of development opportunities, and exercising prudence in implementing cost-saving measures to raise operational efficiency, among others.

With a rosy four-month performance, CEO Le Manh Hung voiced expectations that all member units would ramp up efforts to maintain the current tempo to successfully accomplish the tasks assigned for 2021.