Ampol shares tumble on Q3 volumes drop
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More news: Ampol shares lowered in morning trade after the petroleum giant reported a drop in sales volumes for the September quarter and flagged a maintenance stop at its Lytton refinery next month.
Shares were down 1.1% to $28.82 by 11:45am AEDT, having shed around 20% since January.
Ampol Q3 volumes drop, flags refinery maintenance
The news: Fuel refiner and retailer Ampol has reported a drop in sales volumes for the September quarter and flagged a maintenance stop at its Lytton refinery in November.
The numbers: The company said third quarter margins at its Lytton refinery in Brisbane averaged just USD1.48 ($2.20) a barrel, down from USD19.69 a year ago, with refinery volumes down 45% to 916 million litres amid planned maintenance.
Fuel sales volumes in Australia were down 6% from a year ago to 3.824 million litres, while international sales volumes fell 7.4% to 1,791 million litres.
The context: Ampol attributed the decline in refining margins to lower value production mix during a planned maintenance coinciding with a significant weakness in global margins, with the combined impact for the quarter estimated at $100 million in group earnings.
The company said it will take advantage of the weak market environment to undertake further repairs in November, during which time the refinery will operate at a reduced rate.
It said fuel sales volumes were largely resilient with the trend in the first half of the year. Meanwhile convenience retail was largely flat from a year ago but improved from the first half, benefiting from favourable market conditions.
The source: ASX announcement
