Sinopec says H1 net profit up 7.5 per cent

Chinese oil giant Sinopec said Friday its net profit for the first half of 2014 was up 7.5 per cent year-on-year, despite weakened domestic demand for oil products. Asia's largest refiner by capacity said its net profit for the six months to June 30 was 32.54 billion yuan ($5.29 billion), up from 30.28 billion yuan from the same period last year. However, its revenue fell 4.2 per cent to 1.36 trillion yuan from 1.42 trillion yuan year-on-year, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange where it is listed, late Friday. Its operating profit was up 11.8 per cent year-on-year at 52.27 billion yuan. Petroleum products including refined oil products and other refined petroleum products, which makes up almost 60 per cent of its turnover and other operating revenues, saw external sales revenue of 809.4 billion yuan, a decrease of 1.3 per cent for the reported period compared to 2013. Its external sales for chemical products, which accounts for 13.1 per cent of its turnover, was 177.2 billion yuan, a decrease of 1.7 per cent compared to the previous year. ‘We expect international oil prices to fluctuate continuously at a high level during the second half of 2014,’ the company said, according to AFP.