China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), the country's largest oil refiner, announced Friday that its net profit rose 21.18 percent in the first quarter of 2005 on an annual basis.

In the first quarter of 2005, the Chinese economy continued to grow and domestic demand for refined oil products and petrochemical products remained strong. With the international prices of crude oil fluctuated at a high level, Sinopec saw a good financial results.

Based on the country's Accounting Rules and Regulations, the income from principal operations of Sinopec for the first quarter of 2005 amounted to 169 billion yuan (US$20.4 billion), up36.9 percent year on year, and the net profit reached 9 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), up 21.18 percent.

Based on the International Financial Reporting Standards, the turnover and other operating revenues of Sinopec for the first quarter of 2005 was 174 billion yuan (US$21 billion), an increase of 34.4 percent over the same period last year. Profit attributable to shareholders was 9.6 billion yuan (US$1.16 billion), up 16 percent.

Sinopec's capital expenditure was 11.4 billion yuan (US$1.37 billion) in the three months and its expenditures for exploration and production were 4.5 billion yuan (US$537 million). As a result, the company's newly added production capacity of crude oil and natural gas amounted to 600,000 tons and90 million cubic meters per year respectively.

The expenditure for refining was 1.3 billion yuan (US$152 million), for chemical segment was 804 million yuan (US$97.1 million), for marketing and distribution was 4.7 billion yuan (US$570 million), and other expenditures was 129 million yuan (US$15.6 million).

The first Chinese company listed in Hong Kong, New York, Londonand Shanghai, Sinopec is an integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations.

As one of the largest crude oil and petrochemical companies in China and Asia, Sinopec is the largest listed company in China based on its turnover in 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2005)