Doha, August 13, 2017:  Mr. Ahmed Saif Al-Sulaiti, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Qatar Fuel Company (WOQOD), approved the financial statements for the period ending on 30 June 2017.

Announcing WOQOD’s financial results Chief Executive Officer, Saad Rashid Al-Muhannadi said that the Net profit for the parent company (after excluding minority interest) amounted to QR 373 million as compared to QR 540 million for the same period in 2016, with a decrease of QR 167 million or 31%. The main reasons for the decrease in earnings, as compared to first half of 2016, is primarily attributed to the change in the new terms for fuel supplies to WOQOD and its customers, and secondly to the increase in the National Pension Funds contributions as per the current legislation as well as the decline in the value of investment in shares. Mr. Al-Muhannadi mentioned that WOQOD would exert its best endeavors to improve the results in future.

Petrol Stations Vehicle Inspection Centers (FAHES):
Mr. Al-Muhannadi mentioned four (4) stations were opened in the first half of the year 2017, eight (8) stations under construction and fourteen (14) under tendering and designing stage. In this respect, he also spoke about petrol stations expansion projects, whereas two expansions were completed and three pending completion. Mr. Al-Muhanadi also stated that WOQOD is currently coordinating with the Municipality for the allocation of 26 locations for petrol stations construction.

In regards to FAHES centres, three (3) centers will be opened in 2017, whereas another two centers will be opened in 2018.

Retail Activities:
Retail activities include Sidra stores, car wash (manual and automatic), repair workshop, tyres, oil change and other services. Retail sales grew by more than 7% over the same period last year.

LPG sales (refilling and new) during the period grew by 14%. The sale of Metallic cylinders declined to 1.3 million, whereas sale of SHAFAF cylinders (6 and 12 Kg) more than doubled and exceeded 3.2 million cylinders as a result of the promotional campaign to replace metallic cylinders with SHAFAF cylinders.

As for the bitumen sales, type 60/70 recorded an unprecedented growth of over 168%, and sales of type Polymer PMB increased by more than 14% over the same period last year. Bitumen sales are expected to increase significantly after the completion of the storage expansion project.

Electronic Payment System “WOQODe”
WOQOD introduced the electronic payment system WOQODe in January 2016. The system works through an electronic RFID chip tag fitted in the vehicle’s fuel tank. The number of tags installed during the first half of 2017 reached 20,525 tags, an increase of 12% over the half of 2016.

Petroleum Products:
The total sales volume of petroleum products (Diesel, Gasoline and Jet Fuel) exceeded 4760 million liters with an increase of 5% in the first half of 2017 as compared to the same period last year. Jet fuel accounted for 45% of the total sales volume followed by Diesel (29%) and Gasoline (26%).

In the end, Mr. Saad Rashid Al-Muhannadi thanked the Chairman and members of the Board of Directors for their continued support and guidance to the company, the Executive Management, shareholders and our partners. He further emphasized the company's strength and keenness to achieve greater success and progress by taking many measures that will contribute in reducing costs and raising the efficiency of workers and the search for new sources of income.