Viva Energy has forecast a significant decline in earnings for the first half of 2023 compared to the previous year.
In a trading update, Viva Energy projects that its earnings in the six months to June 30 are expected to be $360 million, a large decrease from the $611 million reported in the previous corresponding period.
Viva stated that energy and infrastructure was impacted by lower regional refining margins and the incident in which a crane fell at the Geelong refinery, causing a compressor to drop, which delayed the restart of processing units and extended the outage of the platformer and associated units.
Repairs to the compressor are still under way, with Viva expecting the refinery to return to full production by early September but expect losses in the refining division of between $30-$40 million in July and August.
Viva’s convenience and mobility arm continued to perform well, with total sales increasing by 3.7 per cent, supported by a favourable fuel margin environment and steady sales volumes. Sales from the company operated network, which was previously Coles Express, increased by 3 per cent to 58ml per week.
The commercial and industrial arm saw impressive growth with sales volumes up 15.1 per cent, led by aviation as international travel recovered, and supported by robust demand particularly in resources, marine and wholesale.
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