Strong sales boost Pilipinas Shell’s bottom line for July to Sept.

PILIPINAS SHELL Petroleum Corp. grew its net income by 89% in the third quarter, driven by higher retail sales.

In a regulatory filing, Pilipinas Shell said it booked a P2.44-billion net profit during the July to September period, from the P1.29 billion a year ago.

It recorded a 17% rise in net sales to P41.19 billion in the third quarter, while cost of sales increased 15% to P34.43 billion. Income from operations likewise went up 70% to P3.53 billion.

For the nine-month period, Pilipinas Shell said net profit reached P6.63 billion, up 4.2% from P6.36 billion a year ago. Net sales grew 22% to P123.43 billion from P101.14 billion, while income from operations reached P10.17 billion, up 6.6% from P9.54 billion.

The improvement came “notwithstanding two months of planned refinery maintenance shutdown and slightly lower inventory holding gains as earnings were bolstered by retail business growth, high V-Power penetration and robust refinery performance,” Pilipinas Shell said.

“This earnings performance translates to 20% return on average capital employed, demonstrating the company’s ability to effectively utilize capital to generate superior returns,” the company told the stock exchange.

Retail network sales volumes grew by 5% compared to the past year because of the sustained higher uptake of its V-Power fuel product and the expansion of its retail footprint. To date, Pilipinas Shell has 1,014 retail stations around the country.

Its non-fuel retailing business captured the growth in convenience retailing, posting double-digit growth even as the recently opened Select stores are still maturing, the company said.

“We continue to enhance customer experience as we innovate our offering and launch various customer- delight activities. We have opened our latest format of Shell Select in our Magallanes station to include Deli2Go(s) and various food and beverage co- locators. With our initiatives, we hope to make the lives of our customers Go Well every day,” said Cesar G. Romero, Pilipinas Shell president and chief executive officer. Pilipinas Shell’s lube bay and co-locator segment also expanded as 38 lube bays opened and 30 new co-locators came in this year. Both registered double-digit growth, the company said.

With the planned preventive maintenance work on the refinery completed in the second quarter, the company said it was able to capture strong refining margins in the third quarter.

On Thursday, shares in Pilipinas Shell rose by 0.25% to P61.15 each. —