Pryce Corporation reported a 27 percent growth in net income to P511.54 million in the first quarter of 2023 from the P402.77 million earned in the same period last year. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said its consolidated revenues improved almost 10 percent to P5.18 billion in the first three months of the year from P4.72 billion in the same period of 2022. “These growths were mainly driven by the sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products, as they account for more than 90 percent of the consolidated revenues,” Pryce said. Sales volume of LPG (cooking gas) for the year increased by 38 percent, albeit they include bulk sales (as opposed to retail sales) which have little margin. Sales volume of industrial gases expanded by 44 percent. Through the above-same comparative quarters, the average LPG contract price (CP) decreased from $802.17 per metric ton (2022) to $708.17 per MT (2023), or a fall of 11.72 percent. The peso-sale revenue of LPG would have been much higher had it not been for said drop in average CP. Over the past several years, Pryce’s nationwide expansions in its marine-fed terminals, refilling plants, and sales centers, with deliberate attention to their strategic locations, is leading to an increasing presence of the PRYCEGAS brand in the country. These expansions have gradually yielded positive results in terms of increases in revenue, income, and market share. This augurs well for the company’s outlook on growth expectations for 2023. The company believes that its current market share of 15 percent (per third quarter-2022 report from the Department of Energy) will increase further in 2023, amid the LPG industry’s sluggish growth during the past four years.