2015 May be a Landmark Year for Aegean, the Bunker Supplier Says

Aegean's President E. Nikolas Tavlarios says it continues to position for success.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. [NYSE:ANW] (Aegean) says it expects 2015 to be a "landmark year" for the bunker company, after posting third quarter results it said demonstrated the "strong, sustainable growth drivers" of its "unique business model."

"Despite challenges that others in our industry may be facing, we continue to take decisive actions to position Aegean Marine for success," said Aegean's President E. Nikolas Tavlarios.

"Looking ahead, we believe 2015 may be a landmark year for Aegean as we begin to realize the full benefit of the investments we have made in our U.S. business and Fujairah storage facility.

"We are building considerable momentum across our businesses and are excited about the many opportunities to continue advancing our track record of shareholder value creation."

The surprise collapse of OW Bunker earlier this month, just 8 months after its $1 billion IPO, has raised questions over the stability of even the industry's biggest players.

However Spyros Gianniotis, Aegean's Chief Financial Officer, echoed comments by Nasdaq that its business model is differentiated enough from OW Bunker that a repeat of the same problems that caused their downfall was unlikely.

"Our differentiated business model continues to distinguish our company from the competitive landscape and generate strong financial results. Our operating strategy remains focused on maintaining a lean and flexible infrastructure, which we have achieved through the ongoing divestiture of older, non-core vessels and the streamlining of expenses," said Gianniotis.

"We are also committed to using our balance sheet to return cash to our shareholders and have recently doubled our quarterly dividend and authorized a new $20 million share repurchase program.

I would like to thank our dedicated employees who have been instrumental in building a solid foundation for our company and continue to focus on delivering profitable growth for our shareholders."

Along with World Fuel Services Corp. [NYSE:INT] (WFS), Aegean have been tipped for growth in the wake of OW Bunker's exit from the market.

On Monday Aegean said its bunker sales volume for the the third quarter had risen 18.5 percent to 2,958,882 metric tonnes (mt) compared to 2,496,457 mt for the same period in 2013.