Listed firm Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation posted significant upturn in its net income in first quarter this year to P3.5 billion from a relatively lean P1.0 billion earnings in the same period last year.
The rise in profit, according to the oil firm, had been mainly underpinned by uptick in sales volume primarily for its premium petroleum products under Shell V-Power brand, lubricants as well as aviation fuel.
For the lubricants business segment, this logged 12 percent climb in volume sales while its premium fuel sales had likewise been on robust 24 percent growth, a notable outcome given the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pilipinas Shell primarily qualified that aviation fuel sales “bounced back in 2022 at 74-percent growth compared to the previous year, as domestic and international borders open both for passenger and cargo flights.”
Taking off from that sales growth momentum then, the oil firm indicated that it “intends to accelerate its strategies throughout this year by growing and continuing to invest in and responding to the growing energy needs of the Philippines.”
Pilipinas Shell President and CEO Lorelie Quiambao-Osial said the company targets to sustain its financial rebound, which also goes along well with the post-pandemic recovery game plan of the country.
The firm’s business strategies moving forward shall still be anchored on “customer-centricity, innovation, agility,” with Osial emphasizing that “our initiatives for sustainable energy are all designed to meet our expanding customers’ current and future needs with the resurgence of safe mobility.”
Within the first quarter, the company noted that it was able to “deliver positive cash flow from operations at P0.1 billion, and cash flow from operations excluding working capital at P5.9 billion.”
Pilipinas Shell added its scale of borrowings “remain controlled despite the increase in working capital requirements driven by a significant build-up in inventory cost.”
On sales within the B2B (business to business) pie of the market, the company conveyed that “amidst the significant increase in global oil prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and heightened mobility restrictions due to the Omicron variant in the first quarter, Pilipinas Shell continues to provide its customers with premium products, superior technical services, and tailor-fit value propositions.”
It specified that “B2B campaigns and initiatives have successfully won and/or renewed contracts in the power, marine, construction, and industrial sectors.”
The non-fuel segment of the company’s business, which is amalgamated into its retail stations, had also been contributing briskly into the oil company’s top and bottom lines - registering gross margin of 27-percent within the January-March stretch this year.
Under its current portfolio are 191 Shell Select stores, 223 Select Express sites, 78 Deli2Gos, and 456 lube bays nationwide that have been serving Pilipinas Shell’s patrons at its mobility stations.