Yangtze Securities: Maintains "buy" rating on China Petroleum, while the profitability of natural gas sales business continues to improve.

According to the research report of Changjiang Securities, PetroChina achieved a net profit attributable to the parent company of 126.294 billion yuan in the first three quarters before 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 4.9%. The net profit of the parent company reached 42.287 billion yuan in a single quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 3.9%. Despite a slight increase in oil and gas production combined with cost reduction and efficiency improvement, the performance of oil and gas and new energy businesses outperformed changes in oil prices during the same period. Chemical product prices declined, but the refinery business drove improvements in the performance of the refining and chemical sector; sales volume increased and procurement costs were well controlled, leading to continuous improvement in the profitability of the natural gas sales business. In addition, the company focuses on shareholder returns and increases holdings to demonstrate confidence in the company. To actively reward shareholders, the company continues its stable cash dividend policy with a mid-year dividend of 0.22 yuan per share in 2025, with a total dividend payout of approximately 40.265 billion yuan. The "buy" rating is maintained.