Petronas Dagangan Open To Setting Up Units Overseas

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PDB) remains open to any possibility of setting up more subsidiaries overseas, despite the proposed divestment of its liquefied petroleum gas businesses in Vietnam. "We never say no, neither do we say yes, as we are always open to any possibility," said Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mohd Ibrahimnuddin Mohd Yunus. Nevertheless, wherever the investment was made, the company had to ensure the returns were right, he told reporters after attending the launch of Petronas' Lunar New Year Commercial and Coffee Break Campaign here, Wednesday. On the impact from the business divestment in Vietnam, he reiterated the exercise was part of a normal portfolio rationalisation that any company would go through. "In terms of our financials, our foreign or international subsidiaries' contribution is less than five per cent to our total revenue. "So, the impact is very minimal as Vietnam is just one of our three international subsidiaries," he said. The other two countries are Thailand and the Philippines. Asked on the company's inventory holding base, Mohd Ibrahimnuddin said compared to 2014, it is currently being reduced to about 20 to 30 per cent. "We have managed to put it at an optimal level, which means that we can always deliver to our customers, and ensure the availability of the products is always there," he said. On the company's outlook for this year, Mohd Ibrahimnuddin said it would be another challenging year due to the volatile oil prices. "We really don't know where the oil price is heading, and it is a really volatile market. "We have to keep our strategy of inventory management and have it at a very optimal level and bring down our cost to ensure our cost structure is at an optimal level," he said, adding the company would ensure efficiency in supply and distribution. "For 2016, we hope we can carry out our strategy well, even with the volatile market...we are confident that we can ride out the storm," he added. -- BERNAMA