Colombian fuel distributor Terpel suffers fall in earnings

Colombian fuel distributor Terpel reported a 17.9% decline in net profits for the second quarter against 2Q16.

Net earnings were 50.5bn pesos (US$17.1mn), down from 61.5bn pesos in 2Q16, although up from 46.0bn pesos in 1Q17, which the company attributed to a stabilization of inflation, reducing its financial costs.

However, the company saw a 0.8% decline in fuel sales during the quarter to 609mn gallons, due to a 5.1% year-on-year fall in sales volumes in Panama, which contributed 10.5% of the total and which the company attributed to weaker demand for fuel for power generation.

However, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, which jointly accounted for 10.8% of the group's fuel sales, saw a 9.5% increase, led by Mexico.

Also read: New players entering Mexico's fuel market

Revenue increased due to the rise in oil prices to 3.657tn pesos in Q2, up 3.1% on 2Q16, Terpel said.

Fuel sales in Colombia, which represented 82.2% of the total, increased 1.5%, while revenues from Panama grew by 14.3%.

Terpel said earlier this month it is considering selling its Mexico natgas subsidiary.