Pryce 2023 profit surges 32% to P2.22B

Driven by higher sales volume of liquefied petroleum gas, publicly listed Pryce Corp., delivered a double-digit growth in net profit in 2023.

Citing a comprehensive unaudited financial report, the company informed the local bourse on Thursday that its net income grew by 31.58 percent to P2.22 billion in 2023, from P1.69 billion the previous year.

Pryce said the improved sales of liquefied petroleum gas were the main profit growth last year after sales volume grew by 7.9 percent to 298,499 tons, from 276,709 tons in 2022.

The company said the LPG margins, particularly in the Luzon market, have significantly improved.

Sales up 2.6%

Meanwhile, the company’s consolidated revenues increased by 2.61 percent to P19.26 billion from P18.77 billion in 2022, despite the drop in the average Contract Price, or CP, by 21.57 percent to $576.46 per MT in 2023 from $735.04 per MT.

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 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 due to general inflation and increases in compensation, logistics and fuel.