Murphy USA 1Q profit falls to $5.3M
El Dorado-based Murphy USA on Monday reported net income of $5.3 million, or 16 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2019, compared with $39.3 million, or $1.16 per share, for the same period in 2018.
The marketer of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise posted financial results for the three months ending March 31.
Income for the first quarter of 2018 included about $35.3 million (after tax) from settlement of damages in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The company reported total operating revenue of $3.1 billion for the first quarter of 2019, compared with $3.2 billion for the same period a year ago.
Seeking Alpha analysts offered an earnings-per-share estimate of 19 cents and a revenue estimate of $3.18 billion ahead of Monday’s report.
Murphy USA saw increases in fuel and merchandise contribution dollars and retail gallons during the first quarter. Total fuel contribution, which includes the retail fuel margin plus product supply and wholesale results, were 12.3 cents per gallon, compared with 11.4 cents per gallon in 2018.
Merchandise contribution dollars grew 6.6% to $97.5 million compared with the year-ago quarter, on average unit margins of 16.1%.
Total retail gallons sold increased by 3.9% during the first quarter, while samestore sales improved by 1.8%.
Andrew Clyde, president and chief executive officer, said in comments released with the earnings report that Murphy USA is off to a strong start and performed well in the first quarter, despite rising product prices. He noted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $58.8 million.
“We continued to drive traffic to our stores, growing year-over-year same store volumes for the third straight quarter, which helped generate strong merchandise results in both the tobacco and non-tobacco categories,” Clyde said.
Clyde touted the successful completion of the national launch of Murphy USA’s loyalty program, Murphy Drive Rewards, which has more than 6.4 million participants to date.
“We are excited about the opportunity this platform provides to attract and retain loyal customers, which when coupled with other ongoing improvement initiatives, will help materially transform our business in the years ahead.”
Murphy USA opened one new retail location, bringing the store count at the end of the quarter to 1,473. This
includes 1,160 Murphy USA sites and 313 Murphy Express sites. The company has 16 stores currently under construction, which includes 12 kiosks undergoing raze-andrebuild that will return to operation as 1,400-square-foot stores.
Murphy USA reported repurchasing 177,000 common shares for $13.3 million, an average of $74.86 per share, during the first quarter. The company reported 32,170,405 in outstanding shares at the
quarter’s close.
Murphy USA shares rose $1.18, or 1.5 percent, to close Monday at $82.26 per share. The earnings report was released after the stock market closed. The shares rose as much as 2 percent in afterhours trading.
The company will host a conference call at 10 a.m. today to discuss first-quarter results. The conference call number is (844) 613-1037 and the conference number is 9387728.