LPG pumps up Pryce’s profits
A greater profitability of the cooking gas business helped the bottom line of Pryce Corp. to rocket up by 30.4 percent in 2024.
In a stock exchange disclosure on Tuesday, Pryce said its net income reached P3.07 billion last year from P2.37 billion a year earlier.
“This income growth remains to be mainly attributed to the improvement of margins of [our] liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) products, particularly in the Luzon market,” the company said.
Pryce booked revenues of P20.47 billion, up by 6.3 percent from P19.26 billion.
LPG continued to be the largest contributor to the company’s top line with a share of 93.7 percent.
LPG revenues went up by 5.8 percent to P19.18 billion. This was partly due to the average contract price rising by 5.5 percent to $608.38 per metric ton.
Industrial gases accounted for P913.57 million or 4.5 percent of total revenues.
According to Pryce, the start of operation of its air separation plant in Cagayan de Oro City resulted in the sales volume of industrial gas sales — such as medical oxygen, nitrogen and argon — soaring by 34 percent.
Meanwhile, memorial park operations and pharmaceutical products contributed P326.78 million and P46.53 million, respectively.
Pryce’s gross profit improved by 16 percent to P6.48 billion despite registering a 2.4 percent increase in the cost of sales and services.
The firm’s gross profit margin — the metric that measures how much profit a company is making from every peso of revenue — surged by 31.6 percent.
