As two major oil giants, Sinopec Corp. and PetroChina have never lacked attention in the market.

Recently, the news that Sinopec was ranked first in the Top 500 Chinese Enterprises has earned the public's attention. Sinopec Corp. topped the list with operating revenue of more than 1.39 trillion yuan, followed by PetroChina with operating revenue of more than 1.21 trillion yuan.

The comparison and competition between the two companies can be described as ubiquitous.

After the semi-annual report was disclosed this year, China's oil net profit reached 65.2 billion yuan, with an average daily profit of 357 million. Sinopec was dragged by the refining business, net profit was 35.429 billion yuan, and net profit only increased by 6.7%.

Who is better for these two major oil giants? Sinopec's bonus "sting"?

In 2009, due to the drop in global oil and petrochemical prices, China Petrochemical's operating income was also affected, reaching 1.35 trillion yuan, a decrease of 6.9% from the previous year. However, the net profit for the year did not fall back, but the profit was 61.29 billion yuan, a sharp increase of 115.5% year-on-year.

Benefiting from a sharp rise in net profit, Sinopec’s earnings per share last year were as high as 0.707 yuan, an increase of 0.365 yuan per share from the previous year. This is the first time in recent years that the company has surpassed PetroChina in earnings per share.

China National Petroleum’s net profit income in 2009 was 103.3 billion yuan, a decrease of 10% from 2008, and the earnings per share was 0.56 yuan.

Although the dividend plan for shareholders released in 2009 (the Board of Directors proposed a dividend of RMB 0.18 per share) has been Sinopec’s largest dividend-paying year in nine years, it has paid a dividend of RMB 0.254 per share for each year of China Petroleum (per share With a generous profit of RMB 0.56 and a dividend rate of 45%, Sinopec’s dividend rate of RMB 0.18 per share or 25.46% dividend rate is still “tricks”.

From the perspective of dividends in the first half of 2010, Sinopec’s performance is still very “tricking”.

According to PetroChina's semi-annual report for 2010, the company achieved a turnover of RMB 648,497 million, an increase of 64.9% year-on-year, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was RMB 65.330 billion, an increase of 29.4% year-on-year, achieving a basic earnings per share. *** 0.36 yuan, an increase of *** 0.08 yuan year-on-year; according to the Chinese Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 65.211 billion yuan. In the medium term, 1.6063 yuan (including tax) will be distributed for every 10 shares, and the total amount will be as high as 29.4 billion yuan.

In the first half of the year, Sinopec achieved operating income of 936.5 billion yuan, up 75.4% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 35.429 billion yuan, up 6.7% year-on-year; basic earnings per share was 0.409 yuan, up year-on-year. Rose 6.7%. The company introduced a profit distribution plan of RMB 0.8 (tax included) for every 10 shares, and the total cash distribution amounted to RMB 6.936 billion.

For every 10 shares of Sinopec, Sinopec Corp. will pay 0.8 yuan, and the current cash dividend of 6.936 billion yuan will be “penalty” compared to China National Petroleum’s distribution of 1.6063 yuan per 10 shares and the current cash dividend of 29.4 billion yuan.

Although Sinopec is "acclaimed", statistics show that currently among all A-share listed companies, Sinopec is the only listed company that maintains uninterrupted cash dividends after listing, regardless of whether it is an annual report or a semi-annual report. It is therefore called a model of dividends.

Although the proportion of dividends each time is not high, but from the annual report of 2001, when every 10 shares after tax 0.64 yuan, to semi-annual report this year after every 10 shares after tax of 0.72 yuan, calculated, 9 years has been insisted on holding The investors of Sinopec Corp. have obtained a post-tax cash dividend of 10.465 yuan per 10 shares.

Wang Qiang of the Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Research of Xiangcai Securities said in an interview with the “Securities Daily” reporter that compared with PetroChina, Sinopec’s making money is not easy, and its refining business has been losing money before last year. It was either a huge loss or it was Small losses, so dividends are more cautious.

Restricted by refining business performance stability than China Petroleum

Judging from the performance of the two companies' semi-annual reports this year, the slight increase in oil prices will have a more favorable effect on the growth of Sinopec's performance.

The proportion of operating profit of China's oil sector is: exploration 53.02%, refining 28.88%, chemical 13.01%, natural gas 5.53%; Sinopec's operating profit accounted for: exploration 26.46%, refining 44.53%, chemical 18.32%, sales 9.45% .

Analysts believe that China National Petroleum's second-quarter earnings are unchanged from the first quarter, and China Petrochemical's profit growth is mainly due to China's oil is more vulnerable to fluctuations in crude oil prices, oil prices in the second quarter is not volatile, so the impact on performance is not However, Sinopec benefited from two product oil price adjustments. In the first half of the year, the main products, especially gasoline, were significantly higher than PetroChina, resulting in a higher single-quarter profit for Sinopec (0.22 yuan higher than China Petroleum’s 0.18 yuan).

The semi-annual report of Sinopec also showed that the processing volume of crude oil in the first half of the year was 101 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 16.7%, but the operating income from oil refining was only 5.7 billion yuan, a substantial decrease of 71.4% year-on-year. This is mainly because there is a 22-day window period between the price adjustment of domestic refined oil products and changes in international oil prices, and the two do not change at the same time. Due to the existence of the window period, when the international oil price rises all the way, the domestic oil price can not be reflected for the first time, making the refinery profit margin depressed, or even on the verge of a loss. In contrast, last year’s situation was just the opposite. International oil prices plunged, domestic oil prices fell slowly, and profit margins for refineries increased. This is why Sinopec became the only major oil company in the last year to achieve a year-on-year increase in net profit.

An analyst unwilling to signify to the “Securities Daily” reporter that Sinopec, which focuses on oil refining and chemical downstream businesses, is subject to continuous rise in international oil prices, regulation of refined oil prices cannot be put in place, and the chemical industry is still in a sluggish cycle. In terms of unfavorable factors, the overall gross profit and profitability were slightly lower than those of China Petroleum, which focused on the upstream exploration and mining business, and the investment risk was relatively high.

He also pointed out that the refining business has been the most troublesome segment of Sinopec, and it has been difficult to change the situation of losses over the years, and the weak profitability of the refining business segment has substantially reduced the overall profitability of the company. Sinopec's refining business's ability to contribute to the overall performance is not stable enough. It is most affected by the fluctuation of international oil prices. Last year it benefited from the decline in crude oil prices and its performance grew rapidly, but this year dragged down the overall performance. In addition, a large portion of Sinopec's crude oil needs to be imported and its performance is not as stable as PetroChina.

Wang Qiang told the "Securities Daily" reporter that CNPC relied too much on the upstream, and Sinopec relied too much on the downstream, and neither of the two parties' short boards could change in a short time.

As of yesterday's close, China Petrochemical's share price was 8.07 yuan, down 2.18%; China Petroleum's share price was 10 yuan, down 0.4%.