Lubricant blender Valvoline reported operating income of $62 million for the quarter ending March 31, down 10 percent from $69 million in the year-earlier period, while sales reached $325 million, up almost 7 percent.
According to parent company Ashland, total lubricant volume sold was 44.8 million gallons for the quarter, up 2.5 percent from the year-earlier quarter. The quarter ending March 31 is the second quarter of Ashlands fiscal year.
Ashland noted that Valvolines selling, general and administrative expenses rose 10 percent over the year-ago quarter, partially due to a larger investment in advertising and promotion.
Our pricing actions enabled us to maintain overall margins sequentially despite a significant increase in raw material costs, said Ashland Chairman and CEO James OBrien. With Valvoline, that included a price increase letter to customers in January that detailed increases of up to 8 percent effective Feb. 14.
As a whole, Covington, Ky.-based Ashland posted operating income of $122 million on revenues of $1.6 billion.