Doha: Qatar Fuel Company (Woqod) has achieved a net profit of QR429m for the third quarter (Q3 2020), which is 51 percent down compared to QR872m reported for the corresponding period last year (Q3 2019). The decline in year-on-year net profit was attributed to COVID-19-led lockdown which affected the sales of the petroleum and other products and services of the company.
Woqod is a company with an exclusive concession in Qatar to distribute, sell, transport and market refined petroleum products & gas within Qatar including to airports and seaports, either by itself or through subsidiary companies “QJET, FAHES and Woqod Marine”. The company held its Board of Directors meeting (virtually) yesterday under the chairmanship of Ahmed Saif Al Sulaiti.
Saad Rashid Al Muhannadi Woqod Managing Director & CEO explained that Woqod Group’s net profits and overall sales volumes have witnessed a considerable increase in the third quarter of the year 2020 compared to the second quarter of the same year.
He also explained that Woqod Group’s net profit for the period (excluding minority rights) amounted to QR429m, compared to an amount of QR872m achieved in the same period of the year 2019, with a decrease of QR443m, representing a decreased rate of 51 percent. The earning per share for the period amounted to QR0.43 per share compared to QR0.88 for the same period of last year.
The decrease of the net profits and earning per share for the period were partly attributed to the market slow down prompted by COVID-19 spread.
With regard to the company’s operations, Al Muhannadi explained that the company overall sales of petroleum products decreased by 23 percent as compared to the same period of last year driven by the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Diesel, Super petrol and Premium petrol sales decreased by 11 percent, 14 percent, and 9 percent respectively, and Jet fuel volumes decreased by 34 percent driven by the reduced operations of the airlines due to the suspension of air traffic in most countries globally. Bitumen sales have decreased by 64 percent driven by macro-economic factors, COVID-19 pandemic and the completion of the major projects. The LPG sales decreased by 3 percent compared to the same period of 2019. Refined Petroleum Products retail sales from petrol stations decreased by 3 percent compared to the same period of last year driven by micro-economic factors as well as the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, he explained that Bunkering fuel “HFO” increased by 18 percent, natural gas sales increase by 9 percent compared to the same period in 2019, and retail non-fuel revenue, including Sidra sales, increased by 11 percent as compared to the same period of the last year driven by the opening of new stations.
In the field of the petrol stations project Mr. Al Muhannadi pointed out that the petrol stations operated by “Woqod” as of October 15 2020 totaled to 106 stations, whereas the company intends to add five more stations by the end of the current year 2020.
For the purpose of improving the profitability of the company Al Muhannadi indicated that the company will continue to increase the levels of implementation of its efficiency and cost optimization initiatives as this will further improve the returns for the company and its shareholders.
In conclusion, Al Muhannadi indicated that Woqod had and still being working closely with its partners to coordinate the implementation of all the governmental directives issued in furtherance of combating the spread and the negative effects of COVID-19. He added that despite the challenges of Corona virus impact Woqod being the sole downstream oil and gas company responsible for securing a continuous and sustainable supply of petroleum products and gas to all sectors within Qatar, was left with no choice but to implement a flexible and effective business plan to ensure the continuity of the supply activities throughout the country on regular basis and in line with the health safety security, and environmental sanitation procedures and standards for the time being in force in the petroleum products industry, where the Group is persistently communicating and coordinating with entities of competent jurisdiction in order to implement the best standards and measures issued in this regard.
