Analysts on average had forecast Petron, in which the government and Middle East oil giant Saudi Aramco each have a 40 percent stake, to report net income of P5.57 billion last year, according to Reuters Estimates.

Analysts expect Petron, whose refinery has a capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil per day, to rake in P6.05 billion in profits this year.

''2005 marks the fifth straight year Petron has posted robust income growth despite a challenging business environment, reflecting improved operating efficiencies, benefits derived from refinery investments, and other growth initiatives,'' the company said in a statement.

Petron attributed its robust 2005 earnings to better export margins for petrochemical products, which are used in various industries, including the production of plastics, textiles, pharmaceuticals, food packaging and adhesives.

The group said its export volumes grew 45.3 percent to 7.96 million barrels last year. The firm's overall sales volume, however, slipped about 2 percent to 51.67 million barrels due to sluggish domestic demand.

In November, Petron said it has allocated $ 300 million to invest in new refinery units over the next three years.

It said the additional refinery units would allow it to expand its mixed xylene capacity and extract new petrochemical products such as benzene, toluene and propylene by 2008.
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