PetroChina Reports Net Profit GrowthPetroChina, one of China's two oil giants, Thursday announced a net profit of 27.2 billion RMB yuan in the first half of this year, up nearly 18 percent over the same period of 2000.Its net profits once again exceeded that of any other H share company, according to its mid-year report. The report also shows that revenue in the period increased 10 percent year-on-year to 122 billion yuan and profits before taxation grew by 15.4 percent to 40 billion yuan. The company attributed the increase in profits to increased prices of principal products and higher sales volumes. Also, the effective implementation of its ongoing restructuring and cost reduction strategies was an essential contributor in achieving outstanding results. By the end of June 2001, PetroChina had saved a total of five billion yuan by cutting costs and operating expenses for the refining, chemicals and marketing segments. The company further reduced its staff by 14,000 in the first half of 2001. Together with the workforce reduction of 38,400 in 2000, the accumulated staff cut totaled 52,400. In the first six months of this year, the company's oil and gas production grew steadily -- crude oil production amounting to 381 million barrels, almost the same in the first half of 2000, and natural gas production increasing 10 percent to 278.9 billion cubic feet. The refining and marketing segment achieved profits in the first half of this year. Its crude oil output increased 5.5 percent, lifting the utilization rate of oil refining facilities to 81 percent from 78 percent at the end of last year. The company continued to expand its retails network, increasing its retails market share from 15.1 percent at the end of 2000 to the current 19.3 percent. By the end of June 2001, the company had set up some 12,000 service stations, up 21.9 percent compared with the first half of 2000. |
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