Valero Energy beats by $0.20, beats on revs
Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $1.87 per share, $0.20 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.67; revenues fell 36.6% year/year to $21.33 bln vs the $15.84 bln consensus.
- The refining segment reported Q1 2015 operating income of $1.6 billion versus $1.3 billion in Q1 of 2014.
- The $361 mln increase in operating income primarily resulted from the $1.49 increase in throughput margin per barrel from $10.90 in Q1 of 2014 to $12.39 in Q1 of 2015.
- The increase in throughput margin per barrel was mainly driven by stronger gasoline and secondary product margins per barrel relative to Brent crude oil and lower natural gas costs.
- These positive drivers were partially offset by lower discounts per barrel for most sweet and sour crude oils relative to Brent crude oil. First quarter 2015 refining throughput volumes averaged 2.7 million barrels per day, an increase of 9,000 barrels per day from Q1 of 2014. Valero's refineries operated at 92% throughput capacity utilization in Q1 of 2015.
- The ethanol segment reported Q1 2015 operating income of $12 million versus $243 million in Q1 of 2014.
- The $231 million decrease in operating income was mainly due to lower gross margin per gallon driven by a decline in gasoline and ethanol prices, which more than offset a decline in corn prices.