In its 2015 annual general meeting held yesterday, Caltex Australia revealed an unaudited profit of $162 million after tax on a replacement cost of sales operating profit basis for the first quarter, compared with $96 million for the same quarter in 2014.
On an historical cost basis, Caltex Australia recorded an unaudited first-quarter profit of $174 million after tax, including an inventory gain of $12 million. This compares with $121 million in the first quarter of 2014, which included an inventory gain of $25 million.
Caltex Australia Managing Director and CEO Julian Segal said that with the closure of the Kurnell refinery and the establishment of Ampol Singapore to source crude and refined product, its business model has changed.
“We have evolved to be an integrated transport fuel supply chain business, optimising the entire value chain from product sourcing to the customer,” he said.
“Ampol Singapore is now the largest source of refined product to supply our customers, allowing us to capture opportunities as we optimise the integrated value chain.”
For the first quarter of 2015, total sales volumes of transport fuels were 3.9 billion litres, compared with prior year sales of 4.1 billion litres. In the quarter, higher sales of jet fuel and premium grades of petrol and diesel were offset by the long-term decline in demand for unleaded petrol, including E10.
Caltex’s Lytton refinery in Brisbane continues to perform well, following a record 2014 performance. Sales from production totalled 1.5 billion litres, down from 2.7 billion litres in the same period last year. This reduction reflects the closure of the Kurnell refinery last October. The Lytton refinery has commenced a major turnaround and inspection maintenance program, which occurs once every five years. Expected to take approximately seven weeks, the refinery is anticipated to be fully operational by the end of June.
Mr Segal said Caltex Australia’s priority now is growth.
“Our focus is on leveraging our core capabilities in retailing, franchising, supply chain management, infrastructure services, and the processing, storage and distribution of hydrocarbons,” he said.
“We will continue to optimise the entire value chain, from product sourcing to customer. We have invested in our supply chain information systems. We will continue sourcing quality, competitively priced products via our Ampol Singapore operations. We will continue to identify and capture further operational and margin improvements at our Lytton refinery. Our overarching objective is to remain the outright leader in transport fuels across Australia.”
