Dennis Uy-led Phoenix Petroleum reported a profit of Php170 million in the first three quarters of the year, reversing its Php95 million net loss in the same period last year.
Phoenix said the growth was fuelled by an increase in retail sales despite mobility restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Domestic volume increased by 29% as the firm expanded sales to business-to-business industries, and due to robust liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand. LPG sales grew 35% behind a steady growth in-cylinder sales accelerated by the increasing contribution from the new canister business. Meanwhile, overseas volume increased 37% driven by growth in the trading business.
Continued efficiency and streamlining also contributed to the positive gains, as per unit operating expenditures declined 29% driven by continued efficiency improvements. As a result, operating income was up 78% year-on-year to Php1.64 billion.
In addition, Phoenix said its market share went up to 8.3% as end-June, based on data from the Department of Energy. Phoenix last reported a 7.81% market share several months back.
“We are proud of the sustained growth in the third quarter. This is the product of the team’s hard work for the past 18 months as we position the business stronger during the pandemic, and aim for growth as the economy emerges from it,” Phoenix President Henry Albert Fadullon said in a statement.
“At the height of the pandemic, our just-in-time inventory strategy served us well by minimizing losses from rapidly falling prices, and slowdown in demand,” he added.
