Ampol expects to post record annual earnings due to strong growth in non-refining divisions such as convenience retail.
In a trading update, the company said it anticipates its RCOP EBIT to be “slightly ahead” of the record results it posted in 2022, due to a consistently strong performance in the convenience retail business and the delivery of performance improvements and synergies within Z Energy.
The company stated that its earnings growth in non-refining divisions will offset a reduction in refinery earnings from historically high levels in the prior year.
Ampol’s Lytton refinery earnings for 4Q 2023 totalled 1,428 million litres compared with 1,580 million litres in the corresponding period. It said that the reduction in volume in the quarter is largely reflective of an unplanned outage towards the end of December, with the refinery now returning to normal operations.
The Lytton Refiner Margin (LRM)1 averaged US$10.52 per barrel in the quarter, down from US$11.76 per barrel for the fourth quarter in 2022, which Ampol said was due to rising crude premiums during the quarter and reduced crack spreads compared to the previous quarter.
Ampol will reveal its full-year results on 19 February.
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