Shell Pilipinas Plunges into P2.7B Loss Amid Middle East War

Shell Pilipinas Corp., an oil giant in the Philippines, has reported a staggering P2.7-billion loss in the first semester of this year due to weaker demand and oil price volatility triggered by the Middle East war.

This is a sharp reversal from the P965 million net income logged in the same period last year.

The company's net sales increased by 28.8 percent to P146.97 billion, largely driven by surging pump prices during the peak of the bombing attacks in oil-producing regions in February.

However, the cost of sales climbed 36 percent to P140.45 billion, mainly due to a steep decline in fuels marketing margins caused by the timing lag between rapidly rising global product costs and local market pricing.