Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. is allocating P4 billion in capital expenditures for 2019, the same level as this year, with about P2 billion to be spent for retail network expansion.
Pilipinas Shell president and chief executive officer Cesar Romero said Thursday the company was earmarking P1 billion to fund refinery operations and another P1 billion for petroleum supply.
The company owns the country’s second-largest oil refinery in Batangas with a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day.
“Our capex is consistent at P4 billion. We are spending about P2 billion for retail for the construction of 50 to 70 stations,” Romero said.
Pilipinas Shell opened 25 stations in the first three quarters of the year, and is on track to complete 50 to 70 new sites yearly.
“We are on track of completing 50 to 70 stations this year. We hope to have 1,100 stations by end of the year,” the official said.
Romero said Pilipinas Shell was focused on maintaining the company’s market share for retail at 33 percent.
The company posted net earnings of P7.2 billion in the first nine months, eight percent higher than P6.63 billion year-on-year.
Pilipinas Shell, however, posted lower earnings of P1.75 billion in the third quarter from P2.442 billion on year.
“We hope that with the decline in prices, demand will again pick up,” Romero said.
The company recorded higher revenues of P162.8 billion in the first nine months from P124.119 billion on year.
Expenses during the nine-month period also increased to P151.85 billion from P113.95 billion on year.
Revenues increased during the third quarter to P58.17 billion from P41.65 billion on year but expenses also rose to P55.28 billion from P38.12 billion.
Pilipinas Shell’s non-fuels retail segment continues to enjoy double-digit growth, with increasing same-store sales and higher lubricant sales.
Pilipinas Shell since the beginning of the year opened an additional 27 Select stores, 14 deli2Go stores and 48 lube bays. It also enjoyed higher premium product penetration and strong volume growth in aviation and bitumen.