TYCOON Dennis Uy’s contribution to the campaign funds back in 2016 proved to be a very good investment as he was able to take his businesses where he wanted it to.
After successfully securing 90 percent control of the Malampaya natural gas field, Uy’s Phoenix Petroleum has broken into the top three largest oil firms in the country based on fuel market share, according to data for the first half of 2020 from the Department of Energy.
Phoenix Petroleum’s energy unit captured 6.86 percent of the market, getting past Unioil, which slid to number four, at 6.48 percent. Phoenix was at number four at the end of 2019.
Petron Corp, a unit of San Miguel Corp, remains the biggest oil company in the country with 24.88 percent market share and followed by Shell Petroleum Corp with 18.25 percent.
Chevron Philippines, which owns the Caltex brand and which was part of the original Big 3 oil firms (alongside Petron and Shell), slid to fifth place with 6.13 percent.
In the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) segment, Phoenix reported a 39 percent increase in volume during the first quarter of 2020, particularly in its key markets in the Visayas and Mindanao. It also reported progress in penetrating the highly competitive Luzon market.
According to DOE data, Phoenix has a 6.57 percent market share in the LPG segment for the first half of 2020, up 5.61 percent for the whole of 2019.
“This latest development in terms of market share affirms the results of the brand market study we implemented that illustrate Phoenix as an emerging and credible brand alternative to the one Filipinos have been used to in the market,” said Phoenix President Henry Albert Fadullon. “It encourages and inspires us even more to carry out our vision to be an indispensable partner of Filipinos in their daily journey.”
In the first quarter of 2020, Phoenix posted total revenues of P21.9 billion and a gross profit of P1.7 billion. Operating income stood at P179 million and net loss at P215 million.
In the second quarter, the company Phoenix Petroleum reported trimming its net loss to P5 million from the P386-million loss during the first quarter.
“We are pleased with the progress we’ve made in stabilizing the business as we are on track to bringing the business back into profitability by third quarter,” Fadullon added. “We are confident and hopeful that the worst is behind us.”
Phoenix Petroleum is a unit of Uy’s vast empire, which includes interests in shipping and logistics, education, convenience stores, quick service restaurants, and telecommunications.