PNOC sees flat income growth

Government-run Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) is projecting a flat income growth of P500 million for 2002, a ranking company official said yesterday.

PNOC executive vice president and chief operating officer Alfredo Parungao said there would be no significant development in the overall economy this year that would have an impact on the performance of its subsidiaries.

"We expect to register the same income for this year," Cunanan said.

But Parungao said the projected P500-million income for 2002 excludes a possible P600-million cash dividend from Petron Corp., one of the subsidiaries of PNOC. "If Petron will declare cash dividend then we will have a higher income," he said.

PNOC owns about 40 percent of Petron while the remaining shares are cornered by Saudi Arabia Oil Co. (40 percent) and by the public (20 percent). Publicly-listed Petron is a major player in the local downstream oil industry and the country’s largest oil refiner.

For 2001, PNOC expects that its consolidated net profit will reach P1.1 bilion to P1.3 billion. Most of its earnings, Parungao said, will come from PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC).

So far, PNOC-EDC, one of the profitable subsidiaries of PNOC, registered more than P800 million earnings for 2001 due to improved steam and energy sales. PNOC-EDC, which was established in 1976, deals with exploration and development of geothermal energy sources in the country. To date, it operates more than nine geothermal steamfields with an aggregate capacity of 1,149 megawatts accounting for about 60 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity.