Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. has announced that net income rose by $1.2 million, or 20%, to $7.2 million, or $0.15 basic and diluted earnings per share, during the first quarter of 2013 compared to $6.0 million, or $0.13 basic and diluted earnings per share, during the corresponding period last year.
Net income attributable to Aegean shareholders, excluding a gain from the sale of non-core assets, was $6.3 million, or $0.13 basic and diluted earnings per share.
Total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2013, decreased by 13.3% to $1,570.5 million, compared to $1,810.9 million reported in 2012.
Gross profit, which equals total revenue less directly attributable cost of revenue, declined by 7.4% to $70.7 million, compared to $76.4 million during the first three months of 2012.
Sales of marine petroleum products fell by 13.4% to $1,558.4 million, compared to $1,799.3 million for the same period in 2012.
The volume of marine fuel sold by the company during the first quarter was down by 3.8% to 2,367,077 metric tonnes, compared to 2,461,230 metric tonnes the previous year.
Operating income excluding a non-cash loss from the sale of vessels for the first quarter of 2013 amounted to $12.4 million, compared to $13.4 million for the same period in 2012. Operating expenses excluding the non-cash loss from the sale of vessels decreased by $4.7 million, or 7.5%, to $58.3 million, compared to $63.0 million for the same period in 2012.
Commenting on the results,
E. Nikolas Tavlarios, President, said: "We have continued to successfully execute on our growth initiatives, which has allowed us to make significant progress despite challenging macro headwinds. During the first quarter we achieved a sequential increase in our gross spread and continued to reduce our expenses, resulting in our ninth consecutive quarter of profitability. As expected, we saw a typical seasonal decline in volumes and utilization; however, our focus on leveraging our infrastructure allowed us to capture voyage and storage revenue opportunities and drive profitability."
Mr. Tavlarios continued: "We have entered 2013 with strong momentum, and believe we are executing the right strategy to sustain long-term growth. We continue to take a methodical approach to entering and exiting markets, diversifying our operations, and strengthening our integrated fuel logistics chain and we are confident that we are well-positioned to benefit when the market recovers from the current shipping cycle."
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Net cash provided by operating activities was $42.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013. Net income, as adjusted for non-cash items, was $13.6 million.
Net cash used in investing activities was $3.0 million, mainly due to the advances for other fixed assets under construction which were partly offset by the proceeds from the sale of two vessels and one of the company's subsidiaries.
Net cash used in financing activities was $54.1 million, primarily driven by the pay down of net borrowings.
As of March 31, 2013, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $61.7 million and working capital of $50.5 million. Non-cash working capital, or working capital excluding cash and debt, was $403.5 million.
At the end of March, Aegean had $355.4 million in available liquidity, which includes unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $61.7 million and available undrawn amounts under the company's working capital facilities of $293.7 million, to finance working capital requirements.
The weighted average basic and diluted shares outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2013 were 45,660,166. The weighted average basic and diluted shares outstanding were 45,438,383.
Spyros Gianniotis, Chief Financial Officer, remarked: "Our first quarter results demonstrate the strength of our operating model and our ability to build and sustain new revenue streams and profitability in a tough operating environment. During the quarter we further streamlined our infrastructure by selling two vessels and reducing our operating expenses, both of which we expect to drive higher utilization and cash flow over the long-term. We have also taken significant steps to strengthen our balance sheet, including establishing a global trade finance facility that will provide significant additional liquidity."
