HollyFrontier Q3 Profit Surges

(RTTNews) - HollyFrontier Corp. (HFC) Wednesday said its profit for the third quarter soared, due primarily to higher refining margins. Profit, however fell short of analysts' expectations.

"Realized refined product margins improved across all regions," said Mike Jennings, CEO, "...driven by a combination of higher gasoline and diesel crack spreads and our ability to capitalize on regional crude discounts particularly in the Permian Basin."

Net profit more than doubled to $175 million or $0.88 per share, from $82.29 million or $0.41 per share last year.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated earnings to be $0.94. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The company's EBITDA grew to $369.2 million from $225.42 million a year earlier.

Refinery gross margins were $15.59 per produced barrel, a 47 increase from $10.64 during the corresponding quarter last year.

Net revenues, however, declined slightly to $5.32 billion from $5.33 billion in the previous year. Analysts projected revenues to be $4.45 billion.