Muscat - Al Maha Petroleum Products reported a 3.7 per cent decline in its net profit for the six-month period ended June 30, 2013.
According to a filing by the company with the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) on Wednesday, net profit slipped to RO5.24mn from RO5.44mn.
The company's chairman, Noor bin Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, said, in a statement to shareholders, that the temporary shutdown of Sohar depot operations in March and April 2013 have had negative impact on diesel and 'Super' sales.
"Total sales increased marginally in the first six months by RO387,000 compared with the same period of 2012 due to an increase in retail sales. However, commercial and aviation fuel sales decreased due to lower profit margins and declining purchase of aviation fuel by one of our main customers," he said.
During the period from July 2012 to June 2013, the company opened five new filling stations with the new brand.
Suresh Kumar, head of research at Al Maha Financial Services, said the company has seen good top-line growth with an improvement in sequential profits.
He said, "On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the company's top line rose seven per cent from RO74.2mn in the first quarter of 2013 to RO79.3mn in the second quarter of 2013.
In spite of the decrease in first-half profits, net profit of the company grew 20.2 per cent on a sequential basis to reach RO2.86mn in the second quarter of 2013 from RO2.38mn recorded in the first quarter this year."
© Muscat Daily 2013
