Thursday, Buckeye Partners, L.P. (BPL), a petroleum transportation, terminalling, and storage company, reported a higher first-quarter profit, as revenues rose in all its business segments.
The Breinigsville, Pennsylvania-based company reported a net income attributable to Buckeye's unit holders for the first quarter of $53.8 million or $0.87 per LP unit, compared to $42.8 million or $0.72 per LP unit a year ago.
Earnings per LP unit for the first quarter of 2008 were retrospectively restated from $0.76 per LP unit as a result of the adoption of a new accounting principle.
On average, ten analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.77 per LP unit for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenue for the quarter increased to $416.8 million from $380.3 million in the comparable quarter of last year. Analysts expected revenue of $532.6 million for the quarter.
Operating income for the quarter rose to $70.1 million from $58.1 million in the first quarter of 2008.
Segment wise, revenue from pipeline operations increased to $99.2 million from $96.4 million a year ago, primarily due to increased tariffs and cost management. Revenue from terminalling and storage rose to $30.6 million from $27.6 million in the year-earlier period.
Revenue from natural gas storage climbed to $15.1 million from $11.5 million in the previous-year quarter, driven by higher revenue from hub services. Revenue from energy services improved to $6.4 million from $1.7 million in the same quarter last year, primarily due to higher volumes and improved margins in refined petroleum business.
Buckeye GP LLC, the general partner of Buckeye, declared a regular quarterly partnership cash distribution of $0.90 per LP unit, payable on May 29, 2009 to unit holders of record on May 11, 2009.
BPL closed Thursday's regular trading at $38.46, down $0.46 or 1.18%, on a volume of 151K shares.
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