Phoenix Petroleum profit jumps 82%

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. yesterday reported a net income of P2.8 billion for 2018, jumping 82 percent year-on-year in the wake of its aggressive acquisition moves over the past two years.

Phoenix said in a statement that new businesses as well as its core fuels business helped deliver the strongest revenue and earnings in its history.

“Despite industry headwinds in fourth quarter, we worked together to deliver a strong close to 2018,” the company’s chief operating officer, Henry Albert Fadullon, said.

“We are positioning ourselves for more success in 2019 and beyond, with a focus on growth, execution, and delivering for our customers and shareholders,” Fadullon said.

By headwinds, he was referring to a sharp decline in prices of crude oil that was observed in the last few months of 2018.

Even then, Phoenix’s revenue almost doubled to reach P88.6 billion last year as the volume of petroleum products sold revved up by 49 percent to an all-time high of 2.75 billion liters.

Retail volume grew by 5 percent while commercial volume rose by 13 percent as Phoenix pushed efforts to firm up its position in the marine, road transport, and construction sectors.

Also, Phoenix’s liquefied petroleum gas business—recently acquired from Malaysia’s Petronas group, saw its sales volume increase by 23 percent as it boosted the expansion of its  distribution in Luzon.

Overseas, the company’s trading operations through PNX Petroleum Singapore saw volumes rise by 28 percent to 758 million liters of products sold to third parties.

On the nonfuels side, Philippine FamilyMart reported an 8-percent increase in daily sales amid double-digit reductions in operating costs and back office costs.—RONNEL W. DOMINGO