Corporate bits | CEM holds seminars on public electrical installation

Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM) joined hands with the General Residents Association of Macau and Aliança de Povo de Instituição de Macau to hold two seminars on the safety of public electrical installations.
According to a statement from CEM, more than 200 property owners attended the seminars, which were aimed at promoting better maintenance and management of communal electrical installations.
During the sessions, CEM representatives clarified the responsibilities of the company and of property owners in terms of electrical installations, and advised that owners should “hire local experienced electrical contractors to perform regular inspections and maintenance.”
According to CEM, Q&A sessions were held at the end of both seminars, providing an opportunity for property owners to raise any queries with the company’s representatives.

Petrochina profit slumps

PetroChina Co. posted a 77 percent decline in third-quarter profit as a suppressed international oil market and lower domestic natural gas prices eroded earnings at the country’s biggest producer.
Net income fell to 1.2 billion yuan (USD177 million) in the July-September period, the Beijing-based company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday. Higher earnings from refining and chemicals were overwhelmed by losses on production and weaker performance from its natural gas and pipelines units. Revenue dropped 3.8 percent to 411.4 billion yuan.
“PetroChina has done a good job controlling costs and managed to get a small profit despite lower crude prices in the third quarter,” said Gordon Kwan, head of Asia oil and gas research at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong. “Oil prices should be significantly higher in the fourth quarter, which will help improve PetroChina’s profit in the winter, especially if the government raises natural gas prices.”