SINGAPORE - China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (CAO), the largest physical jet fuel trader in Asia Pacific, on Friday reported a net profit of 21.5 million US dollars in the first quarter this year, up 5.3 percent year on year.

The company said the rise in net profit was mainly attributable to the increase in gross profit. The company's jet fuel supply and trading volume in the first quarter increased 18.2 percent year on year to 2.6 million tons, mainly due to higher volume of jet fuel supplied to China and consolidation of volumes from the group's wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong. The trading volume of other oil products surged 95.2 percent year on year to 1.2 million tons.

Its gross profit surged 43.6 percent year on year to 19.5 million US dollars in the first quarter, mainly driven by higher profit from other oil products.

The profit contributed by CAO's key associated company, Shanghai Pudong International Airport Aviation Fuel Supply Company Ltd, was largely unchanged year-on-year at 10.5 million US dollars. The negative impact of a 1 percent decrease in the Shanghai firm's refuelling volume in the first quarter was mitigated by higher margins, as jet fuel prices trended higher.

Meng Fanqiu, chief executive officer of CAO, said that the declining jet fuel prices may have an impact on the performance of the company's performance in the second quarter, but that its growth is still underpinned by the robust demand in China for imported jet fuel.

"We will continue to expand our jet fuel supply and trading activities and aviation fuel marketing business in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and the Middle East. We will also continue to focus on diversifying the group's revenue and earnings streams by proactively developing our gasoil, fuel oil and petrochemicals businesses," he said.

"Besides organic growth, the group is proactively seeking opportunities to invest in or acquire synergetic businesses or assets," he added.

CAO is the sole supplier of imported jet fuel to the civil aviation industry of China. It also supply jet fuel to airports outside the Chinese mainland, in markets such as the Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and the Middle East. It also engages in international trading of jet fuel and other oil products.