Leading oil company Petron Corporation logged a 16 percent rise in net earnings in the first semester of the year, from P8.2 billion last year to P9.5 billion this year.

The oil company said its overall revenues increased by 32 percent from P 207 billion to P 273.5 billion due to sustained sales volumes of its Philippine and Malaysian operations and higher prices of crude and oil and finished products.

Consolidated sales volumes also rose from 52.9 million barrels to 54.4 million barrels, the firm said.

In the Philippines, Petron focus on other high-margin products resulted in petrochemicals, leading the company to surpass last year’s first half volumes by 14 percent.

Meanwhile, Malaysian operations of Petron reported a seven percent growth in sales volumes as a result of stronger retail sales.

The company attributed the volume growth to its continuing network expansion program. Petron currently has over service 620 stations.

Operating income stood at P 15.6 billion, a seven percent jump from last year’s P 14.6 billion.

Although the company registered a 32 percent hike in revenues, the increase in cost of crude outplaced the increase in prices of finished goods which resulted to a reduction of its gross profit rate to 8.5 percent this year compared to last year’s 10.2 percent.

“We intend to fortify our leadership position as we ride on the continued economic growth of the Philippine and Malaysian markets. We continue to integrate our value chain, build up our supply and logistics capabilities, and roll-out more service stations than our competitors,” Petron President and CEO Ramon Ang said.