Ultrapar Announces its 1Q10 Results

SAO PAULO, May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (BMF&BOVESPA: UGPA4 /NYSE: UGP), a company engaged in fuel distribution (Ultragaz/Ipiranga), chemicals (Oxiteno), and storage for liquid bulk (Ultracargo), hereby reports its results for the first quarter of 2010.

With businesses that are concurrently resilient and leveraged on the Brazilian economy growth, acquisitions with strong returns and operational excellence programs, we report in this 1Q10 our fifteenth consecutive quarter of growth in EBITDA, which reached R$ 362 million, up 32% over 1Q09.

• GROWTH IN THE BRAZILIAN ECONOMY, ACQUISITIONS AND EXPANSION PROJECTS ALLOW HIGHER VOLUMES IN ALL BUSINESS UNITS IN 1Q10
• ULTRAPAR'S SALES REACH R$ 10 BILLION IN 1Q10, WITH GROWTH IN ALL BUSINESS UNITS
• ULTRAPAR'S EBITDA REACHES R$ 362 MILLION IN 1Q10, 32% GROWTH ON 1Q09
• ULTRAPAR'S NET EARNINGS REACH R$ 141 MILLION IN 1Q10, 54% GROWTH ON 1Q09

"In this first quarter we captured the benefits from the investments made and the greater dynamism of the Brazilian economy, evidenced mainly by the growth in diesel sales, LPG for the bulk segment, specialty chemicals in the domestic market and liquid bulk storage. At the same time, we advanced in capturing the gains from recent acquisitions, reduced our cost of debt and announced the sale of Ultracargo's in-house logistics, solid bulk storage and road transportation businesses, reinforcing its focus on liquid bulk storage, segment in which it has a leadership position," Pedro Wongtschowski – CEO.

SOURCE Ultrapar Participacoes S.A.