Petronas bounces back with $3.6b profit in Q4

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional said yesterday that it had swung to a fourth-quarter profit from a loss in the same period the year before, helped by cost-cutting efforts. Still, the state oil company maintained a cautious outlook for this year.

Petronas posted a profit after tax of RM11.3 billion (S$3.58 billion) for the period from October to December, compared with a RM2.96 billion net loss for the same quarter the previous year, which was primarily due to a drop in operating expenses and impairment costs.

Revenue for the quarter stood at RM58.6 billion, down from RM60.1 billion for the corresponding quarter a year ago, owing to lower oil prices and sales volumes.

REUTERS

Tata brings on former BOA exec as senior V-P

MUMBAI • Tata Group has hired Bank of America deal-maker Ankur Verma, bringing in its first major external recruit since Mr Natarajan Chandrasekaran took over as chairman of India's biggest conglomerate.

Mr Verma, who was a managing director at Bank of America, joined the chairman's office at Tata Group effective yesterday, the company said.

The 40-year-old banker was its head of India mergers and acquisitions for technology, media and telecommunications, as well as oil and gas. He joins Tata Group as a senior vice-president, sources said.

Mr Chandrasekaran formally took over last month as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, after a bitter public fight between its former chairman Ratan Tata and his hand-picked successor Cyrus Mistry, who was later sacked.

BLOOMBERG