Caltex Aust says Gull boosted international fuel sales

Caltex Aust says Gull boosted international fuel sales, revenue in first half

By Sophie Boot

Aug. 28 (BusinessDesk) - Caltex Australia says Gull New Zealand, which it bought last year for $340 million, is performing well and helped increase fuel sale volumes and revenue in the first half of 2018.

In Caltex's half-year result to the ASX this morning, the company said Gull was "demonstrating volume growth in line with expectations at time of acquisition" and had delivered a "strong performance, in line with initial expectations".

The group's net profit on a replacement cost basis was A$296 million for the six months to June 30, up from A$294 million in the previous year. Revenue increased 34 percent to A$10.2 billion. In June, Caltex forecast underlying first-half profit between A$295 million and A$315 million. The board declared a 57 Australian cents interim dividend, down from 60 cents in the first half of 2017.

Caltex noted that revenue surged on increased total sales volumes, at 10.2 billion litres from 9.1 billion litres in the previous first half, and higher average crude oil prices. They were partially offset by the stronger Australian dollar in the six months to June 30 compared to the first half of 2017. International fuel volumes jumped 87 percent to 1.8 billion litres in the six months to June 30, with 178 million litres of that coming from Gull. The Australian company's domestic sales volumes were up 3.5 percent to 8.4 billion litres.

The increase in petrol sold via Caltex's international businesses - Gull and Ampol Singapore - more than offset a decline from its convenience retail and wholesale segments, with total petrol sales volumes up 7.4 percent to 3.14 billion litres in the first half, it said.

Caltex's results presentation shows its international fuel margin contributed A$42 million to underlying earnings in the first half of 2018, attributable to the benefits from Gull along with its Ampol Singapore and Seaoil Philippines deals. One of Caltex's short-term priorities is to continue to increase its international fuel sales via Gull, Seaoil and Ampol.

Gull has 86 sites in New Zealand, including 60 retail sites controlled by Caltex, 23 supply sites and 3 marinas, an increase of two Caltex-controlled sites from the end of the 2017 financial year. Caltex has added eight Gull sites since it took over the business in June 2017, when it had 74 service stations and four marinas.

New Zealand's biggest petrol retailer, Z Energy, sold 1.35 billion litres of petrol in the year ended March 31. It operates 283 retail stations

(BusinessDesk)

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