Pryce Corp. earnings rise 18.2% in Jan-Sept 2018 Danessa Rivera (The Philippine Star) – October 26, 2018 – 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Listed Pryce Corp. grew its profit by nearly a fifth as of the end of September, mainly fueled by higher liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales.

Pryce said its consolidated net income amounted to P1.1 billion from January to September, up 18.23 percent year on year.

The increase in net income was due to the group’s growing revenues, majority of which came from LPG sales at 92 percent.

The remaining eight percent came from sales of industrial gases, real estate and pharmaceutical products.

Pryce said its gross revenue improved by 17.5 percent to P7.57 billion as all business segments registered positive growth.

The LPG and industrial gas division reported a 15.79 percent increase, while real estate and pharmaceutical products showed an improvement of 112.05 percent and 26.15 percent, respectively.

For the LPG business, Pryce cited the 17 percent increase in the average contract prices to $541.33 per MT.

“The rising LPG prices affected consumers’ purchasing behavior as very little growth for LPG sales was registered for the comparative period,” it said.

Operating income rose 28 percent to P1.24 billion, mainly driven by revenue growth and efficiency in the management of operating expenses.

Pryce expects to hit its profit target this year with the strong fourth quarter demand.

“Pryce Corp. remains positive that it will achieve its target of P1.5 billion in net income (plus or minus 10 percent) for the year coming into the fourth quarter, it being the strongest one historically in terms of sales volume and income,” it said.

Ongoing expansion projects in the firm’s marine-fed terminals and construction of additional refilling plants are seen to foster demand in various regions towards the close of this year and beyond.

This article first appeared on www.PhilStar.com