Thai PTT Q2 net profit down 74 pct, tops forecast

BANGKOK Aug 10 (Reuters) - PTT Pcl, Thailand's top energy firm, reported a 74 drop in quarterly net profit on Friday, mainly due to lower income from its upstream exploration unit, PTTEP, and weak performances by its refinery and petrochemical businesses.

PTT, the Asia-Pacific region's third-biggest listed oil and gas firm by market value, posted April-June net profit of 8.51 billion baht ($270 million), down from revised 32.28 billion baht a year earlier and a record 37.4 billion baht in the previous quarter.

Second-quarter profit, the lowest since the first quarter of 2009 when it earned 7.45 billion baht profit, was higher than the average 7.96 billion baht forecast by 11 analysts polled by Reuters.

Thailand's most valuable company runs the country's gas pipeline monopoly and controls more than 30 petroleum, gas exploration, petrochemical and refinery businesses.

It ranks behind PetroChina and Sinopec in market value among oil and gas companies in Asia.

($1 = 31.52 Baht) (Reporting by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Martin Petty)