Murphy USA Inc., the nationwide fuel retailer and convenience store chain based in El Dorado, reported a third-quarter net income of $67.9 million and earnings of $1.90 per diluted share, beating analysts’ estimates and shrugging off the effects of two hurricanes.
The results topped second-quarter income by more than $12 million and easily improved on 2016’s third-quarter income of $45.5 million, or $1.16 a share. Third-quarter revenue of $3.24 billion, however, fell short of expectations, but the company noted that business was hurt by the effects of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.
Total retail gallons sold declined by more than 5 percent from the same quarter in 2016, but sales of merchandise grew to $97.7 million, the company said, with a near record unit margin of 16.1 percent.
President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Clyde said that despite the economic drag of the hurricanes, “the resilience of our people and business model was evident in the quarterly results. Our first priority was to help ensure the safety and well-being of our employees, who not only persevered during these crises, but remained eager and engaged to reopen stores for our customers as soon as possible, and we retained 100 percent of our store managers and assistant managers.”
Per-store metrics were hurt by declines in fuel volume and merchandise sales during and after the hurricanes, but Clyde said in a statement that after refinery shutdowns, a “retreat in wholesale prices contributed to a robust margin environment in September which helped offset a period of negative margins as Harvey made landfall.”
The company opened 12 new retail locations in the quarter, not including five projects of razing and rebuilding locations, and Murphy USA had 1,423 total stores at the end of the quarter. Nearly two dozen stores are now under construction.
Murphy USA stock closed Wednesday at $75.29, not far off its 12-month high of $76.85 on Aug. 1. The company will host a conference call to discuss the results at 10 a.m. Thursday. The conference call number is (844) 613-1037, and callers will need to punch in the conference number, 93873089.
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