Aegean Q1 Revenue Doubles as Bunker Sales Volume Rises 5.6%

E. Nikolas Tavlarios, President, Aegean Marine Petroleum Network - Image Credit: Aegean

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. [NYSE: ANW] (Aegean) today reported it more than doubled its first quarter revenues as its bunker sales volume for the period rose 5.6 percent year-on-year to 4,450,263 metric tonnes (mt).

The world's largest independent physical supplier said for the three months ended March 31, 2017 its total revenue was $1.5 billion, an increase of 102.5 percent compared to the $740,000 million reported for the period last year, with the rise primarily due to the increase in oil prices.

Gross profit dipped slightly to $80.3 million, compared to $80.9 million in the same period in 2016, while operating expenses grew 6.2 percent to $66.5 million due mainly to the higher marine fuel costs for Aegean's fleet and additional offices.

However, higher operating expenses and finance costs saw net income fall 88.1 percent to $1.4 million, or $0.03 per share.

Analysts had been expecting earning of $0.36 per share.

"Our results in the quarter were impacted by increased competition across operations and continued challenging market dynamics. These results do not reflect the overall strength of our business or our strong track record of delivering consistent growth and stable financial results," commented Aegean's President E. Nikolas Tavlarios.

"To position Aegean for continued success, we are actively managing our business and taking decisive action to improve performance despite industry headwinds.  We are controlling what we can control by shifting our strategy towards a more asset-light model and taking a strategic view of our operations to enhance efficiency.

"Consistent with our focus of actively managing our fleet, we are marketing several vessels for sale, charter, or redeployment to the highest growth areas. We are confident that these initiatives, once fully implemented, will drive improved performance and value creation."