Hello everyone, and welcome to WOQOD conference call. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I'd now like to hand over to our first speaker for today, Bobby. Bobby, you may now start the conference call.
Okay. Thank you, Ellie. Hi. Hello, everyone. This is Bobby Sarkar, Head of Research at QNB Financial Services. I wanted to welcome everyone to WOQOD's Q3 and nine months 2023 results conference call. So on this call from WOQOD, we have Pradeep Kumar, who is the CFO, Sultan Al-Maadeed, who is the finance manager, and Ahmed Al- Mansoori, who is the IR officer. So we will conduct this conference with management first reviewing the company's results, followed by a Q&A. I would like to now turn the call over to Ahmed. Ahmed, please go ahead.
Thank you, Bobby. Good day to all the participants, and we hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy. We welcome you all to WOQOD's Q3 and September 2023 results conference call and appreciate your participation. As WOQOD is committed to continuously enhance its Investor Relations activities, initiative. This is to strengthen our communication and improve transparency with all members of, of the global investment community. The presentation of the call will be available on the investor relations section of our website. Any statement that refers to expectation, projections, guidance, or any other characterizations of future events, including financial projections or future market conditions, is a forward-looking statement based on the assumptions today. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. The company cannot disclose any commercially sensitive information due to the confidentiality agreement signed with its clients.
Please refer to slide number two for the full version of the disclaimer statement. All figures discussed in this call are in Qatari riyal, and the conversion for the same to US dollar is Qatari riyal 3.64 to 1 US dollar. Now, I would like to hand over the call to our Finance Manager, Mr. Sultan Jassim Al-Maadeed, to provide an overview of WOQOD and update on the key operational activities.
Thank you, Ahmed. The key vision of WOQOD is to be the leading petroleum product distribution and related service marketing company in the region. I am on Slide four now, which shows the overview of WOQOD Group. WOQOD started operation in 2002, with exclusive rights for storage and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products in the State of Qatar. Operation started with two petrol stations in 2003 and has grown to 117 owned stations at the end of September 2023. The chart on the right shows WOQOD station network. WOQOD also owns and operates 13 FAHES centers for inspection of vehicles across the State of Qatar. I am on Slide five now, which shows the key operation of WOQOD Group.
Key operations of WOQOD Group are diesel and gasoline fuel distribution and sales, jet fuel distribution and sales, shore-to-ship and ship-to-ship bunkering, LPG distribution and sales, natural gas distribution and sales, fuel bunkering, bitumen operation, C-store and auto care services, vehicle inspection services, and office leasing. Turning to Slide seven now, which shows the diesel and gasoline fuel sales volume trend analysis. As mentioned before, the core activity of WOQOD is fuel distribution and sales in the State of Qatar. Total fuel sales lowered by 6% during year-to-date September 2023 versus same period of last year, driven by market demand. Diesel sales volume were lower by 70% during year-to-date September 2023 versus the same period as last year, driven by macroeconomic factors.
Combined gasoline sales volume were up by 4% during year-to-date September 2023 versus the same period of last year, driven by market demand. On quarter-on-quarter basis, sales volume for Q3 2023 increased by 16% and 2% for diesel and gasoline respectively. As compared to Q3 2022, diesel sales dropped by 14%, whereas the gasoline sales increased by 1% in Q3 2023. Average fuel prices were stable during the reporting period. Turning to Slide eight, which shows the fuel, the jet fuel sales volume comparison. Jet fuel sales were higher by 14% during year-to-date September 2023, compared to same period last year, driven by market demand. On quarter-on-quarter basis, jet fuel sales volume for Q3 of 2023 increased by 19% driven by market demand.
As compared to Q3 2022, jet fuel sales volume increased by 21 during Q3 of 2023. Jet fuel price for year-to-date September 2023 was decreased by 21% as compared to the same period of last year. Combined volume of all petroleum products increased by 4% for year-to-date September as compared to the same period last year. Turning to Slide nine, which shows the quarterly trend of retail fuel sales volume trend. Overall, retail fuel volume decreased by 2% for year-to-date September against the same period of last year, driven by decrease in market demand. Retail diesel sales decreased by 16%, where the retail gasoline sales increased by 3% during year-to-date September 2023, as compared to the same period last year, driven by market demand.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, retail fuel volume in Q3 2023 increased by 12% and 1% respectively for diesel and gasoline. As compared to Q3 2022, retail diesel and gasoline sales decreased by 14% and 1% respectively in Q3 2023, driven by market factors. The market share of WOQOD in the petroleum retail market in the State of Qatar reached about 86% during year-to-date September 2023. We would like to mention that non-fuel retail sales increased by 5%, driven by various initiatives. Now I would like to hand over the call to our CFO, Mr. Pradeep Kumar, to discuss the key financial results.
Thanks, Sultan, for all the volume update. Good day, everyone, and hope everyone is safe and healthy. Now, I would like to discuss the consolidated financial results of WOQOD for the Q3 , 2023. Starting with revenue, I'm on Slide 11 now, which shows the revenue trend of WOQOD. Revenue from fuel sales account for nearly 96% of the total revenue. WOQOD achieved total revenue of QAR 20.5 billion for the YTD September 2023, as compared to QAR 22.6 billion during the same period last year, representing a decrease of 9%. This is mainly driven by the decrease in fuel prices by 11%, partly offset by increase in combined fuel sales volume by 4%.
As compared to the Q2 of 2023, the total revenue increased by 14% during Q3 2023, mainly driven by increase in sales volume by 14%. WOQOD achieved total revenue of QAR 7.4 billion for the Q3 2023, as compared to QAR 8.8 billion during the same period last year, showing a decrease of 16%. The main reason for the decrease in revenue is a decrease in sales price by 18%, partly offset by volume increase by 10%. Turning to Slide 12, which shows the net income trend analysis. WOQOD has made a net income of QAR 712 million for YTD September 2023, as compared to QAR 763 million during the same period in 2022, representing a decrease of 7%.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the net income for Q3 2023 increased by 25%, driven by higher volume and better pricing. As compared to Q3 of 2022, net income for Q3 of 2023 is higher by QAR 10 million. This represents an increase of 4%, which is mainly driven by increase in jet fuel volume. The detailed analysis of net income variance is given in the next slide. Slide 13 shows the key variance analysis of net income for the nine-month period ended September 2023, as compared to the same period last year.
The decrease in net income of QAR 51 million is due to the following major factors: Operating margin decreased during YTD September 2023, as compared to the same period in 2022, as a result of decrease in diesel sales to B2B segments and impact of lower bitumen sales, which is partly offset by increase in the jet fuel volume. Trading stock price variance is mainly driven by decrease in value of trading fuel stock. Jet fuel prices decreased by 21% during the year. G&A expense decreased, mainly driven by lower forex exposure in line with the type of procurement during YTD September 2023, as compared to same period last year. Other income increase is mainly driven by higher interest income, driven by the optimization efforts on return on cash.
WOQOD's fundamentals continue to remain robust, and WOQOD is committed to meet all its strategic goals while placing safety as a top priority. WOQOD has strong leadership committed toward delivering the results to the shareholders. With this, we are ready for the Q&A session. Thank you.
Ask any questions, please press star, number one on your telephone keypad. That's star and number one on your telephone keypad. We have our first question from Younes El Abbas from Arqaam Capital. You may now, you may now ask your question.
Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you very much for the call. I just want to... I know you might not want to disclose, like, the formula or what is the margin for the jet fuel, but is the compensation volume based? I mean, just if you give us some generic or general details about how the compensation is it like a set margin? Is it like a margin that changes by time? Because I remember-
... a few quarters or a few years ago, you said a change to an operating fee. Does this fee, rather than like a margin that is fixed, similar to, let's say, the gasoline segment? Just to understand how the volume impacts that. Thank you very much.
Hi, Younes, unfortunately, this is commercially sensitive. However, as volume increases, of course, we gain more.
Would you like us to move to the next question now, since?
Yes, we answered the question. Yeah, please move on.
Thank you. Thank you. We have our next question from Igor Pezek of HSBC. You may now open your line.
Thank you. Good morning. Thank you very much. I have a question about the trading stock price variance. I understand that obviously, jet fuel prices and diesel prices also have come down since the levels we've seen - we saw last year, last year, which is why basically, you know, you know, there has been some negative impact on margins, most likely, just as you are showing on the presentation slides. But my question is like, when oil prices or rather diesel and jet prices going up, would you normally actually report a gain? Would your margin actually benefit from this scenario, and was this the case in the Q1 ? Thank you.
Well, as you know, the pricing in Qatar changes on a monthly basis, so our inventory gets valued every month at the end of the month. So now we are comparing from December 2022 to the current, and currently, we are seeing the price decrease by 21%. So definitely to that extent, the inventory value is getting impacted, and that's what the trading price of variance that you've seen in the notes.
I'm a bit confused by that because I thought... I mean, why would you compare to December 2022? My understanding was that you turn over inventories much, much quicker, and I thought that what matters basically is the price of inventory, maybe just a few months ago, for the given quarter. Let's say if jet price was, let's say, like $100 in at the end of the Q2 , and then if it went to $150 by the end of the Q3 in September, wouldn't you gain? Would you, wouldn't you book a gain on that?
You're right. I'm talking from the nine-month period of 2023.
Okay.
But every quarter, this month, and as compared to last, last quarter, the price improved and we gained from that. But on a nine-month period, we lost this much. But again, if the price goes up again, definitely when we talk again in January, it may be much better than this.
I understand. Thank you very much.
We have our next question from Anastasios from LPZ Investment. Your line is now open.
Thank you for taking my question. There was a substantial increase in your receivable, despite the weakness of the top line, QAR 300 million. Could you elaborate what was the cause and when you expect normalization?
Yeah, this is where you need to look into our revenue, slide number 11, where you can see that the revenue for Q3 has increased by around 14%. So definitely once this goes up, of course, the receivable reflects the latest revenue trend, and that's why the receivable has gone up.
Okay. And generally, your receivables are up year-on-year, despite the year-on-year decrease in revenue.
But the volume, you see, the overall volume also increased, and recently, you know, our sales gone up.
So you expect the current receivable to be maintained at the current level?
Well, we are making every effort to make sure that our receivables are current that way, yes. In that way.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
We have our next question from Mustafa Amer from Al Rayan Investment. Your line is now open.
Thank you, Kumar, for the presentation. With regards to the trading stock price or the inventory, pricing changes, what will be this for the Q3 of 2023? That means the outgoing quarter. I can say for the nine months, it's a negative number, but for the Q3 , is it a positive number or a negative number still? Thank you.
Yeah, we're just getting the number. Just give us 10 seconds. We'll answer that now. Well, yes, if you look at the first half, it was -QAR 120 million, and now it is QAR 78 million only. So that means during Q3 , due to price improvements, we gained QAR 42 million in the Q3 .
Sounds perfect. Thank you.
If you'd like to ask any questions, please press star and number one on your telephone keypad. That's star number one on your telephone keypad. We have our next question from Igor Pezek from HSBC. Your line is now open.
Thank you again. Yeah, just a quick question about outlook for demand. If you can say anything for the Q4 , maybe if you have any thoughts about next year, that would be very helpful, too. And on CapEx also, I mean, do you have a forecast for full year 2023 CapEx? Has it changed? You know, is it the same number? And anything, if you could say anything about 2024, that would also be great. Thank you.
Yeah. We believe that the jet fuel trajectory would continue. Whatever we've seen for the first nine months would be the projection for this year as well. Regarding the CapEx, we are expecting within QAR 200 million for this year.
Thank you.
If you'd like any question, please, please press, please press star and number one on your telephone keypad. That's star and number one on your telephone keypad. Seems like we don't have any incoming questions. I'd now like to hand back over to the management for the closing remarks.
Hey, it's Bobby Sarkar from QNBFS. If we don't have any further questions, we can end the call for today. I wanna thank Pradeep, Sultan, and Ahmed, for taking the time to answer our questions and for the presentation, and we will pick it up next quarter. Thank you very much, guys.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
To the next call in January.
Thank you so much for attending to today's session. We hope you found it useful. Have a wonderful day, and stay safe.