Earnings at Quaker Chemical and HF Sinclair’s lubricants and specialty segment rose for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 despite small dips in revenues at both companies.
HF Sinclair
Income from operations for the HF Sinclair segment rebounded in a big way for the quarter ended Sept. 30, finishing at $93.3 million dollars, compared to a $5 million loss in the same period last year.
The Dallas-based company said the improvement was largely due to the margin between revenue from its products and costs of production, including feedstock used to make base oil. Sinclair uses first-in, first-out accounting to calculate such margins. Feedstock prices for this year’s third quarter were calculated to be $29.9 million versus $44.4 million in the same period last year.
Revenue from external customers dropped 16% from $820.6 million in 2022 to $686.1 million.
“HF Sinclair generated strong third quarter results driven by solid performance across our refining, lubricants, HEP and marketing businesses, which highlights the diversification of our portfolio,” HF Sinclair CEO Tim Go said in the company’s earnings report.
The lubricants and specialty products segment includes Petro-Canada Lubricants and its refinery in Mississauga, Ontario, which makes base oils, white oils, specialty products and finished lubricants, along with specialty lubricants from HollyFrontier’s refineries in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Quaker Chemical
Quaker Chemical – also known as Quaker Houghton – posted net income of $33.6 million for the third quarter, a 30% increase from $25.9 million.
Net sales decreased slightly, from $492.2 million in the same quarter last year to $490.6 million this year . “This result was primarily due to an increase in selling price and product mix of approximately 2% and a favorable impact of foreign currency translation of 2%, offset by a decrease in sales volumes of approximately 4%,” the company said.
Quaker Chemical, headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, restructured its business earlier this year into three reportable segments: the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia-Pacific.
Net sales in the Americas totaled $245.9 million, down a little over 3% from $254.6 million in the same period last year. EMEA net sales grew about 4%, from $134.3 million to $139.6 million. In the Asia-Pacific region, sales rose just under 2% from $103.1 million to $105 million.
The company said the decrease in net sales in the Americas was mostly due to a decrease in sales volumes, partially offset by higher selling prices and a favorable impact from foreign currency translation. EMEA sales revenue rose primarily due to increased selling prices, while revenue in Asia-Pacific increased due to higher sales volumes. Americas segment operating earnings climbed from $66.7 million to $69.1 million, a little more than a 3% rise. EMEA segment operating earnings grew 80% for the quarter, from $15.4 million to $27.9 million. Segment operating earnings in Asia-Pacific rose almost 16% from $26.7 million to $30.9 million.