Fuel price hikes pull down LBC Q1 earnings
Increased expenses due to successive fuel price hikes plus tempered local demand for logistics shed courier service company LBC Express Holdings’ net income in the first quarter of 2022 by a hefty 65 percent.
The listed company said in its regulatory filing on Monday that its net income attributable to shareholders of the parent firm amounted to just P48.87 million as of end-March from P139.73 million year-on-year. Consolidated net income for the period was down by nearly 70 percent to P43.76 million.
LBC attributed this mainly to lower revenues, which fell by 9 percent to P3.96 billion in the first three months.
The topline figures were primarily dragged by the logistics segment that saw revenues drop by 9 percent to P3.81 billion for the period from last year’s P4.2 billion. The contribution from the money transfer business, meanwhile, slid 3 percent to P147.43 million year-on-year in the first quarter.
In addition, the courier service provider saw its transportation and travel expenses soar by 20 percent to P32.84 million in the first quarter from P27.28 million year-on-year amid higher fuel prices.
It also recognized a foreign exchange loss of P5.11 million, a reversal from a gain of P14.67 million in the previous year.
Service expenses decreased by 5 percent to P3.05 billion for the period from P3.2 billion year-on-year as the cost of delivery and remittance fell by 12 percent.
Additional investment
Last year, its board of directors approved the additional investment of up to P2 billion in wholly owned subsidiary LBC Express to refinance the latter’s maturing debts and fund working capital needs. The unit is the group’s express courier, cargo and money remittance service firm.
“Such additional investment is expected to contribute to the continuous business operations of LBC Express as the leading provider of courier and freight forwarding services, as well as a leading nonbank provider of domestic remittance services and inbound international remittance services in the Philippines,” the parent firm said previously.
LBC Express also secured a P1.62-million loan from the Union Bank of the Philippines last year to partially fund the construction of its new warehouse, importation and installation of a sorting machine, and land purchase.
