Marathon Petroleum profit beats on higher crude shipments, retail strength

[August 01, 2019]    (Reuters) - U.S. refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp <MPC.N> on Thursday beat estimates for quarterly profit, as it transported more crude through its pipelines and benefited from higher sales from its gas stations business.

Marathon, which has midstream pipeline operations, has an edge over other refiners, as surging U.S. oil output has sent producers scrambling to find ways of moving larger volumes.

Findlay, Ohio-based Marathon earned $878 million from the midstream segment in the second quarter, up from $617 million a year earlier, while it posted a more than three-fold rise in its retail segment earnings.

Net income attributable to the company rose to $1.11 billion in the quarter ended June 30, from $1.06 billion a year earlier.

On a per share basis, earnings fell to $1.66 from $2.27 due to a higher number of shares outstanding.

Excluding certain items, the company earned $1.73 per share, beating analysts' average estimates of $1.32, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Total revenue and other income rose to $33.69 billion from $22.45 billion.

On Thursday, smaller rival HollyFrontier Corp <HFC.N> also beat quarterly profit estimates on improved diesel and gasoline margins.

(Reporting by Debroop Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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