Pilipinas Shell earnings fall in July-September

PILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp. reported a 28.3% fall in net income in the third quarter to P1.75 billion from P2.44 billion a year ago despite a double-digit growth in net sales, the company’s financial report showed.
Net sales rose 40.3% to P57.77 billion from P41.19 billion, although cost of sales pulled down gross profit by 5.3% to P6.4 billion from P6.76 billion.
“We are proud of Pilipinas Shell’s resilience amidst the challenges of higher inflation and weaker peso,” said said Cesar G. Romero, the company’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
For the nine months to September, Pilipinas Shell posted an 8% increase in net income to P7.2 billion, from P6.63 billion in the same period last year, which the company attributed to its marketing businesses.
“[The company’s] marketing businesses continue to deliver robust earnings, amidst high inflation in the country and higher global oil prices,” it said.
“The manufacturing and supply chain segments benefit from inventory holding gains and improvement in refinery reliability despite continued challenges in regional gross refining margins,” it added.
The company said it had opened 25 stations during the three quarters of the year, keeping it on track to meet its commitment of a total of 50 to 70 new sites each year. As of end-2017, it had 1,044 stations. — Victor V. Saulon