Isla LPG earmarks P450M for expansion this year

Isla LPG Corp., distributor of the Solane brand of liquefied petroleum gas, is earmarking P450 million for its expansion plan this year.

The amount is more than double its capital expenditure budget last year of P200 million.

This year’s capital spending mirrors the plan of the company to spend between P200 million and P500 million yearly within a five-year period to achieve its target of doubling its earnings to P600 million, said Isla LPG COO Ramon D. del Rosario.

In a briefing on Thursday, Del Rosario said the P450-million capex budget was expected to help the company achieve its target of growing volume sales by 20 percent this year.

“For this year, Isla LPG aims for a double-digit growth in all its customer segments. In order to achieve this growth, the company will focus not on keeping up with the competition, but on staying ahead,” he said.

“Its strategies include tapping the technical expertise of one of its principals, its business partners as well as its ties abroad; continuous training and competency development of its technical and sales team; expanding logistical capability through a very modern filling plant facility in Calamba; introducing new applications for LPG that will benefit industrial customers; and improving customer services,” Del Rosario said.

Of the planned P450-million capex, P250 million will be used for the acquisition of 50,000 new cylinders, tanks and pipes, while another P50 million will be used for the construction of a new filling plant in Laguna.

Isla LPG has nine refilling plants located in La Union, Pampanga, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Laguna, Pasig and Leyte.

Isla LPG is likewise looking at further growing its retail network to 70 outlets by the end of this year from 60 as of the end of 2012.

Del Rosario said that one of the company’s strategies was to partner with real estate developers—like Megaworld and Century Properties—for the installation of reticulated system or piped LPG within their developments, and to provide commercial customers with unique applications of LPG.

Last year marked a milestone for Isla LPG, having successfully re-branded and transitioned to the Solane brand from the Shellane brand, after it acquired in 2011 the LPG business of Shell in the Philippines.

“High acceptance in the market was evidenced by the overall volume performance that increased by 6 percent, complemented by a 10-percent increase in distributor base,” the company said.