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Leading marine, aviation and land fuel specialist, World Fuel Services Corporation, says it sold a record 32.6 million metric tonnes of bunker fuel in 2015 - up 6.9 million metric tonnes, or 27 percent on the previous year.

The figure was confirmed during its latest earnings call, held on Thursday to discuss the company's full-year and fourth-quarter results.

Also during the conference call, World Fuel Services Corporation's management discussed marine segment financials, the sequential drop in marine volumes during the fourth quarter, the decline in oil prices, the shipping climate and the issue of possible future acquisitions.

Please find below some of the key comments made by Michael J. Kasbar, chairman and chief executive officer, and Ira M. Birns, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

The earnings call extracts include questions from Jon Chappell at Evercore ICI and Gregory Lewis at Credit Suisse.

Overall company sales volumes

Michael Kasbar: "We have proven that during the perfect storm of oversupply, slowed demand and deteriorating balance sheets, we were still able to gain significant market share. We concluded the year with nearly 20 billion gallons of fuel sold - an increase of almost 20 percent year-over-year. That's about 1.5 million barrels per day or 1.5 percent of the world's liquid fuel flowing through our company each and every day."

Bunker sales volumes

Ira Birns: "Volume in our marine segment for the fourth quarter was 8 million metric tonnes, up approximately 900,000 metric tonnes, or 12 percent year-over-year. Broker business activity for the quarter was approximately 12 percent of total marine volume as compared to 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

"For the full year, our marine segment volume was a record 32.6 million metric tonnes, up 6.9 million metric tonnes, or 27 percent compared to last year. And what continues to be a very weak operating environment, our marine team did an outstanding job growing volume and market share to record levels, while maintaining our credit discipline and expanding our global offerings."

Sequential drop in marine volumes in Q4

Jon Chappell (Evercore ICI): "You did a great job this year on the marine side given a ton of headwinds there. But if we look at the fourth quarter, there seem to be a pretty meaningful, almost a 10 percent sequential drop from the volumes in 2Q and 3Q. Obviously, marine can be incredibly seasonal, but also in the last three months - I guess the last five months - there has been a huge step down in a couple of major sectors, and so much of that sequential decline. Was that just a seasonal issue and how much of it is you kind of scaling back risk as you know bankruptcy is kind of accelerated in dry bulk and the container markets?"

Michael Kasbar: "It's tough to tell Jonathan, I mean you know better than anyone but there is a lot of folks on the sidelines of the derivative side. You know people really are taking a wait-and-see approach not only on the marine side but also on the aviation side. So, it's little tough to tell. You know we've got to be pretty careful in the current market conditions because the economic scenario is so poor. So it's little bit hard to tell and it's really a quarter by quarter thing for us; the way that our model works is that we've got the ability to dial up and dial down. I think while we are feeling pretty good about our mousetrap and our global platform definitely being a little bit careful. So you are going to see some movement in that volume on a quarter by quarter basis."

Bunker department financials

Ira Birns: "Moving onto marine, the marine segment generated gross profit of $45 million, down $14 million or 24 percent year-over-year. The main driver of the variance was the extraordinary market conditions in the fourth quarter of last year partially associated with the bankruptcy of a large competitor, material volatility and a sharp spike in demand. For the full year, a year in which bunker prices plummeted by nearly 50 percent, marine segment gross profit was $190 million, down $16 million or 8 percent year-over-year."

Oil prices, shipping climate and risk

Michael Kasbar: "The collapse in the oil and commodities markets has together with slowing economic growth in emerging markets had a profound impact on global shifting in offshore exploration.

"Many sectors of the shipping and offshore markets are struggling with lower freight rates and cancellations of projects, a by-product of the steep decline in commodity and energy prices. While no one is immune from these powerful macroeconomic forces, World Fuel's business model and financial strength have afforded us the opportunity to demonstrate our continued commitment to the shipping community as evidenced by the 27 percent year-over-year volume growth.

"Over the past 18 months the industry has developed a better appreciation for the risks borne by a bunker purchaser in dealing with an undercapitalized supplier. These risks often remain hidden until an economic downturn exposes them - as has the recent shock to the oil markets. While the current fuel price environment lowers the financial barriers to entry into the bunker market, we have nonetheless successfully grown our market share over the past year and foreign bunker purchasers have increasingly recognized the value of World Fuel as a preferred financial counterparty capable of insulating their companies from performance and default risk.

"We expect that shipping in offshore markets will remain under pressure for the foreseeable future, making World Fuel Services' strong credit worthiness, demonstrated reliability and innovative supply chain management strategies increasingly attractive as an experienced and proven risk management partner in a market cropped with uncertainty."

Future acquisitions

Gregory Lewis (Credit Suisse): "You touched on the cash overseas... as we think about opportunities and you think about where your cash position is, should we be thinking more about more international expansion, the domestic or are there going to be opportunities domestically or at least how are you thinking about that?"

Michael Kasbar: "We have a lot of opportunity fortunately, and I would say there are plenty of opportunities domestically and there are a growing number of opportunities internationally as well. Clearly, if we find something internationally like we did with the Exxon Mobil transaction that's a nice win for us because we have cash sitting offshore that is not really generating much of a return and we can use that cash to fund the transaction. And if we find additional opportunities offshore, we still have incremental cash that we could tap that's sitting offshore as well. But that doesn't preclude us from going after acquisitions domestically and there are plenty of those as well, and we got ample availability on our credit facilities to fund those transactions. So I would say there are opportunities on every continent today, we just have to prioritize and find the one to make the most sense for us strategically."