Higher margins amid declining liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices translated into a record net income for Pryce Corporation which reported a profit growth of 31.58 percent to P2.22 billion in 2023 from P1.69 billion in 2022.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the firm said, “this income growth was mainly caused by the increase in sales volume of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, which grew by 7.9 percent, from 276,709 tons in 2022 to 298,499 tons in 2023.”
It added that, “the growth in net income is due to the improvement of LPG margins, particularly in the Luzon market.”
PPC’s consolidated revenues increased by 2.61 percent to P19.26 billion last year from P18.77 billion in 2022 despite the drop in the average Contract Price (CP) by 21.57 percent, from $735.04 per metric ton (2022) to $576.46 per MT (2023).
“A drop in CP translates to a drop in domestic prices of LPG (and vice versa) and thus, in LPG revenues. The increase in consolidated revenues could have been higher had it not been for the CP decline,” the company said, adding that sales volume of industrial gases increased by 27.4 percent.
PPC’s LPG business segment contributed P18.13 billion or 94.16 percent to the consolidated revenues. The other segments and their respective contributions consist of the following: industrial gases, P793.26 million or 4.12 percent; real estate, P287.30 million or 1.49 percent; and pharmaceuticals, P44.86 million or 0.23 percent.
Operating expenses rose by 17.74 percent, from P2.12 billion in 2022 to P2.50 billion in 2023. This is due to general inflation and increases in compensation, logistics, and fuel.