KUCHING: A slowdown in clients’ activities in the oil and gas industry and lower utilisation of marine vessels has taken a big hit on the bottom line of Petra Energy Bhd. In second quarter ended June 30, 2025 (2Q2025), Petra Energy performed badly, with group net loss of about RM19.2 million, a reversal from profit of RM29.5 million in 2Q2024, as revenue plunged by RM104.5 million to RM58 million from RM162.6 million.
This resulted in the company to incur loss per share of 5.97sen from earnings per share of 9.2sen.
The company did not declare any interim dividend against 3sen declared in 2Q2024.
Petra Energy is engaged in two main business segments — services and marine assets.
The services the group provide to the oil & gas industry include hook-up and commissioning (HuC), maintenance, construction and modifications (MCM), marine vessel support for HuC and MCM, fabrication yards, training and engineering services.
The marine asset segment owns and charters a fleet of offshore supply vessels, including four accommodation workboats, two accommodation work barges, one anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel as well as one mobile offshore production unit. In the current quarter under review, the services segment recorded sharply lower revenue of RM31.1 million (2Q2024:RM91.4 million) due to a decrease in clients’ activities.
This dragged down the segment pre-tax profit to RM2.8 million (RM17.9 million).
The marine assets segment revenue fell by more than 50 per cent to RM64.2 million (RM132.8 million) due to lower vessel utilisation arising from decrease in clients’ activities.
This has resulted the segment to incur pre-tax loss of RM2.1 million from pre-tax profit of RM27.7 million in 2Q2024, Petra Energy said in explanatory notes to its financial results.
The upstream segment did not report any revenue as there were no lifting activities in the first two quarters of 2025.
But it reported a pre-tax loss of RM14.2 million in 2Q2025 mainly related to the segment’s operation expenditure due to production deferment attributed from planned mandatory dry docking of the mobile offshore production unit.
The 2Q2025 financial results were also weaker as compared to the immediate preceding quarter (1Q2025) when Petra Energy posted revenue of RM106.2 million (2Q2025:RM58 million) as there was no lifting from the upstream segment in the current quarter as compared to RM81.7 million of crude oil sales in the preceding quarter.
There had been a slow increase in activities in both marine and services segment during the quarter.
During the first half of 2025 (1H2025), Petra Energy sank into the red with group net loss of RM26.63 million, a reversal from profit of RM27.2 million, as revenue skidded to RM164.3 million from RM281.4 million.
The services segment saw its revenue declined by RM112.5 million to RM61.5 million (1H2024:RM174 million) due to decrease in clients’ activities in the current financial period.
This affected the segment earnings as its pre-tax profit fell to RM5.6 million (RM24 million). The marine assets segment also performed poorly as its revenue dived by a hefty RM116.9 million to RM75.1 million (RM192.3 million) as fewer vessels were leased out.
This had resulted the segment to book pre-tax loss of RM23.4 million (+RM25 million).
In 1H2025, the upstream segment recorded revenue of RM81.8 million from crude oil sales in January, and recorded pre-tax profit of RM3.8 million from the sale.
This income was offset against its operating expenditure due to production deferment attributed from planned mandatory dry docking of the mobile offshore production unit.
Commenting on prospects going forward, Petra Energy said:
“The global economic environment remains uncertain, driven by geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressure, and volatile oil prices. These conditions have led to market volatility, prompting industry players to adopt a cautious stance and strategies.
“These conditions are further exacerbated by the on-going slowdown in the domestic oil and gas sector, reflected in deferred activities by major operators and a year-on-year decline in demand for marine assets deployment.”
Petra Energy said the group continues to act prudently while staying alert to emerging opportunities.
“Back by a strong financial position, the group is well-equipped to navigate on-going challenges and pursue sustainable growth where opportunities arise,” it added.
