Bolivia's state oil firm ranks LatAm's second in profits

LA PAZ, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia's state oil firm, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), said Wednesday it is Latin America's second most profitable firm, with a 23 percent gross profit margin.

The figures were compiled by America Economia magazine, which released a comparative study of the region's 500 biggest companies.

Bolivia's YPFB ranked ahead of Colombia's Ecopetrol (21 percent), Venezuela's PDVSA (17 percent), Brazil's Petrobras (7.7 percent) and Argentina's YPF (5.7 percent), but behind Ecuador's Petroecuador, which has a 38 percent gross profit margin.

"YPFB's revenue after sales is 23 percent, which means that for every 100 dollars that YPFB sells internationally, it makes 23 dollars in profits. Petroecuador is the most efficient firm and second is YPFB," Guillermo Prommel, director of America Economia, said Tuesday night in La Paz, at a ceremony marking the firm's ranking No. 88 among Latin America's 500 largest companies.

YPFB President Carlos Villegas said the ranking of Bolivia's state oil firm among the top 100 placed it in the same class as such regional giants as Petrobras, PDVSA, (Mexico's) PEMEX, Petroamazonas, Petroperu, YPF and others, and reflected its efficient management.

YPFB has jumped some 45 rungs compared to 2012, when it ranked at No. 133 among the top 500 companies. The company's annual sales amount to 6.059 billion U.S. dollars now.