UPDATE 1-Thai PTT Q3 meets f'casts, oil seen recovering in Q4

By Khettiya Jittapong BANGKOK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Thailand's PTT PCL, Asia-Pacific's No.3 listed oil and gas firm by market value behind PetroChina and Sinopec, posted a 5 percent drop in quarterly net profit, dented by lower earnings from exploration and refining. Major oil companies such as PetroChina have reported weaker earnings as oil prices in July-September averaged just half the year-earlier record highs, squeezing their refining margins. While crude prices have picked up this quarter as the global economy recovers, state-controlled PTT's fourth-quarter earnings are likely to be hit as an oil leak at its Australian Montara field will weaken income from its exploration business. "The crude oil price in the fourth quarter is expected to move in the range of $65-75 a barrel, with an average price for the whole year of $60-65," PTT said in a statement. Longer term, the outlook will depend on how the government resolves an environmental health row that has halted some operations at Map Ta Phut, Thailand's largest industrial complex, which could delay the PTT group's expansion plan. "We expect earnings growth for PTT next year. But how strong that growth is depends on the Map Ta Phut case," said Anupon Sriard, an analyst with BFIT Securities. July-September net profit fell to 16.99 billion baht ($510 million) from 17.9 billion baht a year earlier. That was broadly in line with an average forecast of 16.8 billion baht by 11 analysts polled by Reuters. For a graphic on PTT earnings click on: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/TH_PTTQ31109.gif PTT, Thailand's biggest listed company valued at about $21 billion, runs the country's gas pipeline monopoly and controls more than 30 petroleum, gas exploration, petrochemical and refinery businesses. Third-quarter sales fell 25 percent to 444 billion baht, while petrochemical and refinery subsidiaries contributed profit of 5.3 billion baht, versus a loss of 3.5 billion a year earlier. Thai Oil, the country's top refiner and nearly half-owned by PTT, said last week it returned to profit in the third quarter, but earnings in the fourth quarter will be weak as refining margins and petrochemicals will come under pressure from new capacity in Asia. PTT shares have risen 52 percent this year, while the broader market has gained around 60 percent. PTT closed down 1.6 percent on Tuesday ahead of the earnings announcement. The overall market was 0.74 percent lower. ($1=33.31 Baht) (Editing by Ian Geoghegan and Alan Raybould) (([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging:[e-mail])) * Reuters 3000 Xtra clients can now view daily data on how reported Asian company earnings compare with analysts' forecasts, as measured by Reuters Estimates. Double click on Keywords: PTT/ (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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