VLO - Valero says refineries to operate 90%-93% of capacity in Q2 below year-ago

2023-04-27 12:44:02 ET

Valero Energy ( NYSE: VLO ) -3.7% in Thursday's trading after reporting Q1 adjusted earnings that beat expectations but revenues fell 5.5% to $36.44B, as gasoline prices declined from a year earlier.

Q1 net income surged to $3.07B, or $8.29/share, from $905M, or $2.21/share, in the year-earlier quarter, as Valero ( VLO ) "started the year with another strong quarter ... as refining maintained strong margins and overall throughput came in above our estimate," RBC Capital analyst TJ Schultz said.

Valero ( VLO ) said its refineries operated at a combined 93% capacity utilization rate in Q1, despite planned maintenance at several facilities, and refining throughput volumes averaged 2.9M bbl/day in the quarter, marginally higher than 2.8M bbl/day a year ago.

For Q2, Valero ( VLO ) said its 14 refineries would operate at a total throughput at 90%-93% of their combined total capacity of 3.15M bbl/day, below operating at 94% of capacity in the year-ago quarter.

Valero ( VLO ) expects its seven U.S. Gulf Coast refineries will run at 93%-96% of their combined total capacity of 1.86M bbl/day, while its two California refineries are planned to operate at 82%-89% of their combined 305K bbl/day total throughput capacity.

The company will evaluate options for its two California refineries , as the state develops rules to cap refiner profits, CEO Joe Gorder said.

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