Oil refiner Thai Oil’s base oils, lube and bitumen unit saw profit surge in the first three months of the year as revenue and sales volumes rebounded.

The unit’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose to 1.14bn Thai Baht ($33.8mn) in the first quarter of the year.

Profit rose by 79pc from the fourth quarter and by 151pc from the same period last year.

The higher profit outpaced the 31pc rise in sales from the previous quarter and an 8pc fall in sales from year-earlier levels.

The more muted sales performance partly reflected relatively steady Group I base oils prices compared with the first and fourth quarters of last year.

Base oils production also stayed lower than usual in the first quarter even as it rebounded from the previous three months.

Profit instead got a boost from a steeper fall in feedstock costs.

Lower costs helped to boost the unit’s profit margin to 18.2pc in the first quarter, up from 13.3pc during the previous three months.