Valero Energy Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Annual Earnings

Publicación de los resultados 4T06 de Valero Energy. Si bien no son tan brillantes como el 4T05 (afectado por Katrina) o 3T06 (extraordinario y el mejor de su historia), sí han sido muy buenos y por encima del consenso: Según Yahoo!, las estimaciones para el año estaban en $8.10, y al final ha quedado en $8.64... no es poca la mejora!! Aunque a mí no me ha sorprendido. Ya dije en "Tercer trimestre de mi cartera" que "En mi opinión, fácilmente vamos a superar las expectativas".

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) today reported fourth quarter net income of $1.1 billion, or $1.80 per share, which compares to $1.3 billion, or $2.06 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2005. Fourth quarter 2006 results include a $196 million pre-tax gain, or $0.21 per share, on the sale of the company’s remaining 59 percent ownership interest in Valero GP Holdings, LLC in December. The fourth quarter 2005 results include a $55 million pre-tax gain on the sale of the company’s 20 percent interest in the Javelina off-gas processing joint venture in Corpus Christi. Excluding these special items, the company’s fourth quarter 2006 net income was $987 million, or $1.59 per share, compared to $1.3 billion, or $2.00 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2005.

For the year ended December 31, 2006, the company’s reported net income was $5.5 billion, or $8.64 per share, versus $3.6 billion, or $6.10 per share, in 2005. Fourth quarter 2006 operating income was $1.5 billion.

Bill Klesse, Valero’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer: “In the fourth quarter, gasoline margins averaged more than $5.25 per barrel, while on-road diesel margins averaged over $13.50 per barrel on the Gulf Coast. In addition, sour crude oil discounts remained wide. The sour crude oil discounts benefited from ample sour crude oil supplies and very deep discounts on residual fuel oil, which can compete with crude oil as a feedstock in many of our complex refineries.”

Regarding the company’s cash flow, capital spending in 2006 was $3.7 billion, of which $550 million was for turnaround expenditures. In 2006, the company purchased approximately 35 million shares, or five percent, of its outstanding common stock, returning more than $2 billion to shareholders.

“Looking at this year’s first quarter, despite the lack of early cold weather in the Northeast heating oil market, distillate margins remain good, particularly for on-road diesel, which is currently trading near $15 per barrel on the Gulf Coast. For gasoline, supplies are expected to tighten as spring maintenance activity gets underway. In addition, we will soon be dealing with the transition from winter-grade gasoline to summer-grade specifications, which generally leads to declines in inventories and higher margins as we head toward the summer driving season. Gasoline demand has been strong given lower pump prices and, until recently, mild weather.” said Klesse.

“In January, we started up the newly expanded crude unit at the Port Arthur refinery, which allows us to process up to 325,000 barrels per day of sour crude oil.”

“With regard to our use of cash flow going forward, we will continue to demonstrate the balanced approach to investing those funds that we showed in 2006. The 50 percent increase in our dividend that was recently announced and the fact that we will continue purchasing our shares in the open market this year are examples of that commitment,” said Klesse.