Chief Executive Gary R. Heminger said in prepared remarks Wednesday that Marathon made progress on the company's objectives of "growing the more stable cash-flow segments of our business and enhancing our refining margins."
The Findlay, Ohio, company in early December combined its MarkWest Energy Partners LP acquisition with Marathon's MPLX LP pipeline master-limited partnership. The latest results include MarkWest's results as of Dec. 4, when the deal closed.
Mr. Heminger said Marathon's Speedway unit, which includes the former retail operations of Hess Corp., substantially completed planned conversions of its East Coast and Southeast retail locations to the Speedway brand well ahead of schedule.
Mr. Heminger said average selling prices and continued strong demand for gasoline supported crack spreads, an industry term for the difference between the wholesale price of gasoline and the price of crude oil.
The refining and marketing segment reported operating income of $207 million, sharply lower than the $1.02 billion reported a year earlier.
The company's Speedway business reported that operating earnings fell by slightly more than half to $135 million.
The pipeline business posted operating profit of $71 million, an increase of 22%, thanks to the addition of MarkWest.
Over all, Marathon Petroleum reported a profit of $187 million, or 35 cents a share, down from $798 million, or $1.43 a share, a year earlier. The latest period included 44 cents a share in inventory write-downs. Revenue slumped 30% to $15.68 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 69 cents and revenue of $16.35 billion.
By: Tess Stynes (WSJ).
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