Whoever Reuters employs as its representative in Malaysia must undergo special course in financial reporting.
Reading its report on Petronas makes me wonder if the reporter understands what actually led to the economic woes in Malaysia and countries like China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and many others without having to sensationalise domestic issue such as the 1MDB.
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Foreign correspondents, I believe, will find it difficult to sell their stories without adding some against-common-sense substance to it. And of course, exaggeration is what they are best at!
Reuters report on Petronas would have made more sense and professionalised in the form of straight reporting, minus some crappy instances which was hoped to add weight to it.
Reading its report on Petronas makes me wonder if the reporter understands what actually led to the economic woes in Malaysia and countries like China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and many others without having to sensationalise domestic issue such as the 1MDB.
Reuters report on Petronas would have made more sense and professionalised in the form of straight reporting, minus some crappy instances which was hoped to add weight to it.
Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is slashing its 2016 dividend to the government by nearly 40 percent, after its quarterly profit fell 91 percent on weak global crude oil prices.The state-owned oil and gas firm, which brings in nearly half of Malaysia’s oil revenue, is being forced to shrink its contributions, compounding woes of the Southeast Asian country that is struggling amid a depreciating currency and political uncertainty caused by heavily indebted state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).Petronas said on Wednesday it will pay RM16 billion in dividend to the government next year, down from 26 billion in 2015. Its net profit for July-September tumbled to RM1.4 billion ($321.10 million) from 15.1 billion in the same period a year earlier.“Our commitment on dividends is based on our performance for this year,” President and Group Chief Executive Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin told reporters at an earnings briefing.
The company cut its proposed 2015 dividend in May. Earnings were dragged down by impairment losses on property, plant and equipment to the tune of nearly RM6 billion and net losses on foreign exchange and derivatives of almost 4.5 billion, a company statement showed. Revenue for the quarter fell by 25 percent to RM60.1 billion from 80.4 billion a year ago.
Prime Minister Najib Razak announced in his 2016 budget report that dividend payout sums from Petronas would depend on global oil prices, and estimated Malaysia’s oil related revenue at RM31.7 billion in 2016 compared with 44 billion this year.
Global oil prices have more than halved since mid-2014 on a supply glut and are currently hovering around $48 per barrel. The CEO said Petronas would assume Brent crude will trade at $48 as their projection for next year’s budget.
Did Zulkiflee attribute the slump to 1MDB? No! He said unlisted Petronas has reported falling net profits for four out of the last five quarters and a loss in the remaining period as global oil prices have slid.
“We expect our quarter four performances to be similarly affected,” said Wan Zulkiflee, adding that the outlook into the first half of 2016 “remains uncertain”.“Global economic growth remains modest at best, compounded by the pending supply surge in the global oil market once sanctions on Iran are lifted.”
Petronas announced last quarter that its cash from operations wasn’t able to cover its capital expenses nor committed dividends for 2015, forcing it to draw on reserves and accelerate cost savings.
Who is the reporter? Care to debate it with me?