Western Refining Q3 Profit Surges - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Western Refining Inc. (WNR) posted third quarter 2014 net income attributable to the company of $186.7 million or $1.84 per share, compared to net income of $50.3 million, or $0.53 per share for the third quarter of 2013.

Special items in the third quarter of 2014 consisted primarily of a non-cash, unrealized pre-tax hedging gain of $17.0 million.

Western's consolidated financial results include the results of both Western Refining Logistics, LP (WNRL) and Northern Tier Energy LP (NTI).

Net income attributable to Western, excluding special items, was $175.3 million, or $1.73 per share. This compared to third quarter 2013 net income, excluding special items, of $29.6 million, or $0.33 per diluted share.

Net sales for the quarter grew to $4.05 billion from $2.45 billion in the prior year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.47 per share and revenues of $3.25 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

During the third quarter, Western paid a dividend of $0.26 per share of common stock and repurchased approximately $43 million or 1.1 million shares of common stock.

In October, Western's Board of Directors approved a $0.30 per share dividend for the fourth quarter, a 15% increase over the third quarter dividend. On November 3, 2014, the Board declared a special dividend of $2.00 per share to be paid on December 1, 2014 to shareholders of record on November 18, 2014. Finally, the Board also authorized an additional $200 million for share repurchases.