PetroChina overtakes Toyota TOKYO: PetroChina Co. became Asia's largest company by market value, overtaking Toyota Motor Corp., as shares in China's No. 1 petroleum producer rose to a record on higher oil prices.
The stock rose 3.5% to HK$5.85 yesterday. It has gained 25% since the beginning of May, taking the Beijing-based company's market value to HK$1.03tril (US$133.4bil). Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker, was worth 14.04tril yen (US$127.8bil) at the close. China's oil demand has more than doubled in a decade as its economic growth averaged 8.7% a year, boosting the price of oil, coal, copper and other commodities to records. Booming demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel helped PetroChina to make the most profit among Asian companies in the second half of last year. Its shares have risen more than fourfold since the initial sale in April 2000. Interest among investors in PetroChina will be sustained given that oil prices are likely to stay high,'' said Stella Lau, who helps manage US$1.3bil at East Asia Asset Management in Hong Kong including PetroChina shares. It is an important Asian company that any international investor will pay attention to.'' PetroChina on March 16 reported a 48% increase in net income last year to 102.9bil yuan (US$12.4bil). Toyota on May 10 reported a 0.8% increase in net income of 1.17tril yen (US$10.7bil) for the year ended March 31, 2005. PetroChina on June 10 said it agreed to pay 20.7bil yuan (US$2.5bil) for a 50% stake in fields owned by its parent, China National Petroleum Corp., in nine countries to start an overseas acquisition push. Other Chinese oil companies are also seeking foreign takeovers to boost reserves. On June 23, CNOOC Ltd., China's third-largest oil producer, offered to buy Unocal Corp. for US$18.5bil in cash, topping a cash-and-shares bid by Chevron Corp. In terms of reserves, PetroChina is bigger,'' CNOOC chief financial officer Yang Hua said in an interview on June 23. But in terms of international profile, CNOOC will be larger after the merger.'' PetroChina is the world's fifth-biggest oil company by market capitalisation, behind Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc, Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Total SA. Bloomberg --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.859 / Virus Database: 585 - Release Date: 2/14/2005 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Bantu Aceh! Klik: http://www.pusatkrisisaceh.or.id Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ekonomi-nasional/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
