MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay's Ancap profitable despite adjusting prices below import parity

Uruguay's state-run oil company Ancap yielded profits of US$128 million for the first semester of 2022 despite adjusting prices below the import parity price (IPP), it was announced Friday in Montevideo.

 “The contribution of the non-monopolistic businesses is a profit of 43 million dollars, Ducsa contributes a profit of 16 million dollars and all the other companies of the group a loss of 4 million dollars,” Ancap said in a statement.

Ducsa is the Uruguayan fuel distribution company S.A., 99.77% of which is owned by Ancap. It runs Ancap fuel stations, and Ancap and Texaco Lubricants, among other brands.

“Ancap's economic results in the monopoly market in the first half of the year show a profit of 12 million dollars, despite having foregone income of 130 million dollars due to sales at prices below import parity”.

In the last 18 months, Ancap's cash flow increased by US$ 227 million, which allowed it to cancel liabilities for US$ 99 million.

In addition to this result, the group includes a favorable financial year of US$57.5 million, particularly due to the appreciation of the Uruguayan peso but also from other deals.

“Refining margins worldwide show historically high but declining levels, with a maximum difference between the price of derivatives and the group's price of US$59/bbl in diesel and US$47/bbl in gasoline in June,” the state-owned company added.