Pertamina 2013 net profit up 11%

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina reported Wednesday that net profit in 2013 increased by 11 percent to US$3.07 billion (Rp 32.05 trillion) from $2.77 billion in 2012, thanks to a combination of higher oil and gas production and positive growth in its oil and gas trading business.

Pertamina President Director Karen Agustiawan said following the company's shareholders meeting that revenue last year reached a record of $71.1 billion compared to $70.9 billion in the previous year.

She said that during the past five years, Pertamina has been able to maintain positive financial performance, where net profit has surged by almost 97 percent compared to $1.55 billion in 2009.

Amid declining trend in national oil and gas production, Pertamina in contrast saw production increased to 465,220 boepd last year compared to 461,630 boepd, Karen said. The increase was supported by higher oil production at 202,000 bpd, and gas production at 1,528 mmscfd. The production growth was also accompanied with an increase in oil and gas reserves at 237.31 million barrel oil equivalent last year.

In 2013, realized geothermal production reached 21.73 million tons, or a 38.5 percent increase from 15.69 million tons in 2012. This also contributed to the rise in revenue and net profit last year.

The company's downstream business also showed solid growth as it strengthened domination of the domestic market for non-subsidized fuel and lubricant products, and aggressive expansion of several products such lubricants and fuel for industries in the overseas markets. Pertamina controls about 60 percent of the domestic lubricant market, while its lubricant products have been exported to 24 countries.

Pertamina claims that it has also been successful in maintain supply of subsidized fuel products and 3-kg container LPG across the country. The company has distributed 46.25 million kilo liters of subsidized fuel products, and 4.4 million metric tons of subsidized 3-kg LPG.

The company, however, acknowledged that it continued to suffer losses in the distribution of non-subsidized 12 Kg LPG, which last year stood at Rp 5.7 trillion, as the product was still being sold at price lower than the cost of purchase. Earlier this year, Pertamina adjusted the price of the product upward by Rp 1,000 per kg (nett) to reduce the losses. The company plans to continue to gradually increase the price until 2016 to achieve the real market price.

Elsewhere, Pertamina said that it made a record investment of $6.87 billion last year, an 118 percent surge from the $3.15 billion investment made in 2012.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak