“Overall, we are happy with the progress we made in 2013,” says Alon’s CEO and president.
Alon USA Energy Inc. has announced results for the quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2013.
Net loss available to stockholders for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $(14.0) million, or $(0.21) per share, compared to net income available to stockholders of $22.2 million, or $0.35 per share, for 2012.
Excluding special items, Alon recorded net loss of $(8.0) million, or $(0.12) per share, for the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to net income of $36.1 million, or $0.58 per share, for 2012.
Net income available to stockholders for the year ended Dec. 31, 2013 was $23.0 million, or $0.33 per share, compared to $79.1 million, or $1.29 per share, for 2012. Excluding special items, Alon recorded net income available to stockholders of $34.5 million, or $0.51 per share, for the year ended Dec. 31, 2013, compared to $127.4 million, or $2.13 per share, for 2012.
“Overall, we are happy with the progress we made in 2013,” said Paul Eisman, CEO and president. “There was a significant amount of market volatility during the year, with very good margins early followed by a period of over correction to crude differentials and crack spreads in the last half of the year. Despite this, our cash generation from operating activities of $162.2 million allowed us to reduce consolidated debt net of cash by $83.0 million to $387.7 million at year end 2013. We were also able to increase our regular dividend from $0.16 to $0.24 per share per annum and to pay a special dividend of $0.16 per share in 2013.
“We experienced a sequential improvement in our fourth quarter 2013 results as we benefited from widened discounts in Midland-priced crudes relative to Cushing-priced crudes at both the Big Spring refinery and the Krotz Springs refinery. The Krotz Springs refinery also benefited from widened discounts in Gulf Coast sweet crude relative to Brent. The Big Spring and Krotz Springs refineries’ strong performance reflected high throughput rates and effective management of operating costs.
“The Big Spring refinery and the Krotz Springs refinery operated very well in the quarter. The Big Spring refinery achieved record quarterly average throughput of 73,613 barrels per day. The Krotz Springs refinery achieved its highest quarterly average throughput of 72,309 barrels per day since we acquired it. As a result of the strong operational performance, the refinery direct operating expenses for the Big Spring refinery and Krotz Springs refinery were under $4.00 per barrel and $3.60 per barrel, respectively, for the fourth quarter of 2013.
“As we look to 2014 and beyond, we believe Gulf Coast sweet crude will trade at a sustainable discount to Brent, which will benefit us going forward.
“We expect throughput at Big Spring to average approximately 73,000 barrels per day for the first quarter, 46,000 barrels per day for the second quarter as a result of the turnaround and 67,000 barrels per day for the full year of 2014. We expect throughput at Krotz Springs to average approximately 64,000 barrels per day for the first quarter and 71,000 barrels per day for the full year of 2014 as well as process approximately 30,000 barrels per day of Midland-priced crudes throughout 2014.
“In California, we continue to develop our logistics business. We are making progress with the permitting process for our Bakersfield rail terminal and refinery light crude modification project and expect to receive the permits in the coming months. We also received all necessary permits to be able to receive, unload, and deliver crude by rail at our Paramount facility. In the meantime, we continue to optimize our asset base on the West Coast. In January 2014, we sold our Willbridge, Oregon asphalt terminal for $40 million in cash.
“Our retail segment faced seasonal challenges in the fourth quarter with the extreme cold weather conditions impacting merchandise sales volumes as well as merchandise sales margins. Despite the challenges in the fourth quarter, the retail segment achieved record fuel volume sales in 2013.”
Retail Fuel
Retail fuel sales volume increased 7.3% to 47.2 million gallons in the fourth quarter of 2013 from 44.0 million gallons in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Retail fuel sales volume increased 10.4% to 188.5 million gallons in 2013 from 170.8 million gallons in 2012 .
Alon USA Energy, Inc., headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products, operating primarily in the South Central, Southwestern and Western regions of the U.S. Alon is the largest 7-Eleven licensee in the U.S. and operates approximately 300 convenience stores in Texas and New Mexico.