Petrobras, the Brazilian government controlled oil and gas multinational, just one day after announcing record high net profits obtained in the first half and third quarter this year, informed that its subsidiary Petrobras Distributor (BR) posted the company's highest half-year results ever.
The company's net profit in the first six months of 2008 was 670 million reais (US$ 414.5 million), a result 64% higher than recorded in the same period last year.
"The result is basically a consequence to increased sales volume and control of costs, which were lower than in the first six months of 2007, even with an inflation rate of 11%," said the president at BR, José Eduardo Dutra.
According to him, sales of oil derivatives and ethanol by the company grew 15% in the first half, having exceeded 18 billion liters. "Total sales of oil derivatives and ethanol in the first half averaged over 3 billion liters," he stated.
"Whereas sales by the market as a whole grew 10.5%, those by BR recorded a 15% expansion in the first six months this year, compared with the same period of 2007," he claimed.
According to him, in absolute values, the bulk of sales consisted of diesel oil, but in terms of growth, the highlight was alcohol fuel. "Ethanol consumption grew 58% in the first half of the year, as against a 9% growth for diesel," he informed.
"This was the half-year period in which BR sold the most in its history. Also, in July we have broke the monthly sales record in the history of the company, as we sold 3.254 billion liters of derivatives," said Dutra.
ABr
