PetroChina is rewarding shareholders with a higher - and symbolic - payout after its best half-year profit in more than three years.
The nation’s biggest oil and gas producer raised total dividends for the first six months by almost one-third to 0.0888 yuan per share. The lucky payout - eight is widely considered an auspicious number in China - rounds out a banner earnings season for China’s three oil majors as crude’s rally allowed them to return more money to shareholders.
PetroChina’s earnings, released Thursday, follow higher results from state-owned peers China Petroleum & Chemical and Cnooc, driven by a global crude price rally and deep cost cuts. Benchmark Brent crude averaged 35 per cent higher in the first six months at $71 a barrel.
“The recovery of crude price was the biggest driver for its strong performance,” said Tian Miao, a Beijing-based analyst at Everbright Sun Hung Kai. “PetroChina may continue to benefit from a rise in the price in the second half.”
China Petroleum, known as Sinopec, boosted dividends by 60 per cent to 0.16 yuan a share when it announced record earnings on Sunday. Cnooc will pay HK$0.30 a share, 50 per cent more than the previous year.
Parent China National Petroleum (CNPC), along the other two state giants, are under a mandate by President Xi Jinping to ramp up domestic oil and gas output amid a trade dispute that threatens to curb shipments from the US. For the first six months of the year, oil and natural gas output increased 1.5 per cent to 736.3 million barrels of oil equivalent from a year ago.
PetroChina said net income jumped to 27.1 billion yuan (Dh14.54bn) in the first six months, from 12.7bn a year ago, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday. That’s the highest semi-annual profit since the second half of 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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The company had already flagged last month that profits would more than double, citing improved operations and higher realised prices of crude oil, products and natural gas.
The Beijing-based energy giant will pay out an interim dividend of 0.0666 yuan per share, as well as a special dividend of 0.0222 yuan. Last year, it declared a total of 0.069 yuan a share for the first half, which included a 0.038 yuan special dividend.
Shares closed unchanged at HK$6.07 in Hong Kong before the earnings statement, while the Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9 per cent. The stock has risen about 11 per cent this year, compared with the 5.9 per cent loss in the city’s benchmark.
While the company’s dominance in the world’s top energy user allows it to better benefit from higher oil prices and a nationwide drive to boost gas demand, it also bears the burden of having to resell overseas gas supply at lower regulated rates domestically. Losses from gas imports deepened to 13.4bn yuan in the first half, from 11.8bn yuan
CNPC has set out a new pricing strategy for winter gas supply between November and March that proposes to raise prices by as much as 40 per cent for some users, according to an Energy Observer report this month. Morgan Stanley said the hikes will be a “material positive catalyst” for PetroChina.
Operating profits from its exploration and production unit climbed to 29.9 billion yuan from 6.9 billion a year ago, while the refining and chemicals division gained to 23.2bn yuan from 15.8bn.
On a quarterly basis, PetroChina made a profit of 16.9bn yuan in the three months ended June, the highest since the second quarter of 2015, compared with 6.98bn yuan a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
