Rubis’ revenues in Kenya in the first half of this year grew 8.9 percent when reported in euros, benefitting from strengthening of the shilling in a period when floods and protests hit demand for petrol and diesel.
Disclosures by the parent firm shows that Rubis Kenya booked revenues of Sh67.38 billion (€488 million) in the period ended June compared to Sh68.4 billion (€448 million) a year earlier.
The revenue is a drop of Sh1 billion when reported in shillings, highlighting the impact of the shilling’s rally against major global currencies like the dollar and euro.
The rise in revenues for the French-owned oil marketer came in a period when there was a marginal drop in demand for fuel with consumption of petrol falling 2.9 percent while that of diesel dropped 2.5 percent.
Rubis says that increased demand for aviation fuel helped ease the impact of the dip in consumption of diesel and petrol in the first half of the year.
“Kenya saw a very dynamic first-half on the aviation side, with increased flights combined with superior customer service. This significant uptake was not sufficient to absorb the headwinds to the retail business over this first-half (protests, floods, economic downturn and forex volatility), leading to an overall lacklustre performance,” Rubis says.
Rubis’ numbers are in contrast to Vivo Energy, whose revenues dipped to Sh99.16 billion ($769 million) in the first half of this year, a two percent fall from Sh101.22 billion ($785 million) in the same period last year.
Oil marketers had hoped to ride on the steady drop in pump prices to grow demand, but this was undone by the disruptions caused by the floods and protests.
Pump prices per litre maintained a steady drop from the start of this year with diesel retailing at Sh173.10 in June compared to Sh201.47 in January while that of petrol went for Sh189.84 from Sh212.36 in the same period in Nairobi.
Transport was greatly affected between March and May this year due to the floods that damaged roads and led to temporary closure of businesses and learning institutions, hurting demand for fuel.
In June, anti-tax protests paralysed transport in major cities and other parts of the country further dampening demand for fuel.
Rubis is jostling with TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya for the second position in terms of Kenya’s fuel market share, behind Vivo Energy.
Rubis commanded a market share of 14.05 percent behind TotalEnergies at 14.88 percent and market leader Vivo Energy at 22.07 percent in the six months to December 2023. Unlike Vivo Energy, Rubis and TotalEnergies do not make public the volumes of fuel sold in Kenya.
