Oil refiner Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. posted a 30-percent increase in first-half profit to P5.4 billion from P4.2 billion in the same period last year.
“Amidst challenges from the lower refining margin environment in the first half of the year, we continue to create value for all our stakeholders by being an integrated fuel and refining company,” PSPC president and chief executive Cesar Romero said in a statement Monday.
PSPC attributed the strong performance in the first half to the higher earnings of the marketing businesses and inventory holding gains from its manufacturing and supply chain segments.
“Our world-class marketing businesses backed by our efficient supply chain and supported by technical and trading capabilities from the Shell Group have allowed us to remain competitive in this challenging business environment,” Romero said.
The company sustained its Shell V-Power penetration at 27 percent despite the increase in retail pump prices amid the rising global oil prices and higher excise taxes.
PSPC opened 16 retail stations in 2018 and is on track to build a total of 50 to 70 new sites by the end of 2018. PSPC currently has 1,054 retail sites serving motorists in key locations across the country.
PSPC said its non-fuel retail continued to enjoy double-digit growth. The business is poised to capture the growth in convenience retailing with 19 new Select stores, 10 deli2go stores and 26 lube bays in the first half.
The country’s second-biggest oil firm also posted strong volume growth in the commercial segment, specifically in aviation, lubricants and bitumen.
PSPC’s P730-million bitumen facility, the first in the country, is now operational and ready to support the government’s infrastructure projects.
PSPC is also set to complete in the fourth quarter its P260-million supply and logistics facility inside the Tabangao refinery that will reduce the gate-to-gate time of delivery trucks by half, thus contributing to cost efficiency.
The 110,000-barrel-a-day Tabangao refinery successfully completed a one-month de-coke pitstop in the second quarter.
“Optimization projects are also underway to better respond to the softer regional refining margin environment,” PSPC said.
The company said its priority of maximizing cash generation while maintaining competitive returns remained evident and unchanged.
PSPC announced early this year that it would double its annual retail investment to P2 billion from P1 billion.