Sinopec Profit Falls 86% - But Will Not Give Up

Chinese company China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) which is the largest oil refining company in Asia, has declared that in the first quarter its profit fell by 86%, the fall was caused by a reduction in prices of petroleum and chemical products. As a result its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange have fallen by six percent. The level of profit which folllow international accountancy standards for the first quarter ending March 31st, was at 542 million yuans (65 million dollars), in the same quarter last year the profit was 3.94 billion yuans. "Results have not justified our expectations ", - declared Eva Chu from BNP Paribas Peregrine in Hong Kong. However, taking into account a rise in prices on petroleum this year, it is possible to hope for improvement of profits from Sinopec in second quarter of 2002. Revenue at the company was reduced by 17% and have made 63 billion yuans. In company's application it is spoken, that the level of oil extracting in comparison with the first quarter of last year has not changed dramatically, having made 9.3 million tons while oil refining has decreased on 1.2 % - up to 24 million tons. Extraction of natural gas has grown on 9,2 % - up to 1,2 billion cubic metre. Earlier the company declared plans of increasing the sales volumes of gasoline and diesel fuel in the current year on 3.8 % - up to 70.5 million tons.

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