FX.co ★ Phillips 66 posts lower-than-expected quarterly profit

US oil refiner Phillips 66 reported a 75% fall in its quarterly profit. The company's earnings fell to $163 million or $0.31 per share. Last year, the company’s profit stood at $650 million or $1.2 per share.

Adjusted earnings also declined to $0.16 per share from $1.31 per share a year before. The oil refiner posted revenue of $23.67 billion in the reporting period, up 7.4% compared with a year earlier. The consensus estimates had called for profit of $0.40 on revenues of $22.5 billion.

According to Phillips 66’s CEO and Chairman Greg Garland, the company’s quarterly earnings were disappointing due to challenging market conditions. Thus, refining earnings sank from $410 million in the prior-year quarter to a loss of $38 million. This is mainly due to decreased realized margins and lower volume of refinery.

Meanwhile, the midstream segment posted a quarterly loss of $1 million, significantly narrower than a loss of $77 million in the year-ago quarter. The chemicals segment reported earnings of $136 million from $212 million a year ago.

As of 2016, the company reported net income of $1.555 billion compared with $4.227 in 2015.