Marathon Petroleum Corp. reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 results

FINDLAY, Ohio, Feb. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) today reported 2017 fourth-quarter earnings of $2.02 billion, or $4.09 per diluted share, compared with $227 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Earnings were $3.43 billion, or $6.70 per diluted share, for the full-year 2017, compared with $1.17 billion, or $2.21 per diluted share, for the full-year 2016.

During the fourth quarter, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act significantly revised U.S. corporate income tax law by, among other things, reducing the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent. Earnings for the fourth quarter and full year include a tax benefit of approximately $1.5 billion (or $3.04 and $2.93 per diluted share for the fourth quarter and full year, respectively) as a result of remeasuring certain net deferred tax liabilities using the lower corporate tax rate.

"We delivered a strong operational and financial performance across the business," said Gary R. Heminger, chairman and chief executive officer. "We provided outstanding value for our investors in 2017. The Midstream and Speedway segments each achieved a record full-year performance, which, combined with a substantial increase in earnings from the Refining and Marketing segment, fully demonstrates the robust earnings power of MPC's integrated model."

MPC's Midstream segment, which primarily reflects the results of MPLX LP (NYSE: MPLX), reported record financial results in the fourth quarter and full-year 2017, contributing $1.34 billion in segment income from operations for the year. This record-setting performance was largely driven by gathered, processed and fractionated volume growth, resulting in high plant utilization.

Speedway continued its exceptional performance, finishing the year with segment income of $732 million, a record when excluding the favorable lower of cost or market inventory adjustment (LCM) reversal recorded in 2016, building upon several years of solid segment earnings growth. In 2017, Speedway delivered strong earnings from light product sales, an increase of 1.2 percent in same-store merchandise sales, lower operating expenses and contributions from its travel center joint venture. Speedway's sixth straight year of record segment earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and second consecutive year of approximately $1 billion of annual EBITDA reinforces the strategic value of this high-performing, stable cash-flow business.

The Refining and Marketing segment reported full-year segment income from operations of $2.32 billion, a $964 million increase over 2016. Results were largely driven by higher LLS-based blended crack spreads and high utilization rates. Numerous monthly process unit and production records were achieved in both the fourth quarter and throughout the year, including monthly records for crude throughput and gasoline and distillate production. As a result, MPC is now the second-largest refiner in the U.S. on a crude-throughput basis and Galveston Bay and Garyville are the second- and third-largest refineries, respectively.

"February marks the 5-year anniversary of our acquisition of the Galveston Bay refinery. The accomplishments during this time are impressive," Heminger said. "Since 2013, we have dramatically improved the environmental and safety performance of the refinery and advanced operational excellence, all while achieving lower operating expenses. Some of the accomplishments include an 80 percent reduction in environmental incidents and 33 monthly process-unit rate records in 2017 alone, while cutting unplanned downtime in half and lowering operating expenses nearly 25 percent."

MPC and its sponsored master limited partnership, MPLX, announced that they are today closing the dropdown of refining logistics assets and fuels distribution services as well as the exchange of MPC's general partner (GP) economic interests for newly issued MPLX common (LP) units, completing the previously announced strategic actions.

During 2017, MPC returned over $3 billion of capital to MPC shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, which were supported in part by proceeds from dropdown transactions during the year. The company plans further return of capital with the after-tax cash proceeds from today's dropdown transaction, in a manner consistent with maintaining its current investment grade credit profile.

On Jan. 29, the MPC board of directors announced a 15 percent increase in the quarterly dividend, to $0.46 per share. This represents a 26.5 percent compound annual growth rate in the dividend since becoming an independent company six years ago, demonstrating continued confidence in the cash-flow generation of the business.

"Building on 2017's strong operational and financial results, we are pleased to complete our strategic actions, adding to our long and successful track record of taking steps to create long-term value for our shareholders," Heminger said. "We have tremendous momentum going into 2018 and are encouraged by the high-returning investment opportunities across the business."

MPC also announced its 2018 capital investment plan, which remains focused on strengthening the sustained earnings power of its businesses through growth and margin-enhancing investments across the enterprise. MPC's investment plan, excluding MPLX, totals approximately $1.6 billion.

The capital plan for the Refining and Marketing segment is $950 million. Of that amount, approximately $400 million is growth capital focused on optimizing the Galveston Bay refinery, upgrading residual fuel oils to higher-value products, maximizing distillate production and expanding light product placement flexibility, including exports. Sustaining capital is approximately $550 million, which includes approximately $210 million related to regulatory spending for Tier 3 gasoline.

Speedway's capital plan is $530 million, a $150 million increase from last year. This significant increase in Speedway's capital allocation is primarily targeted for construction of new store locations as well as remodeling and rebuilding existing locations, consistent with MPC's commitment to aggressively grow the business and build upon its industry-leading position.

The capital plan also includes approximately $100 million to support corporate activities and the remaining assets in MPC's Midstream segment, excluding MPLX.

MPLX announced its 2018 capital investment plan, which includes approximately $2.2 billion of organic growth capital and $190 million of maintenance capital. This robust organic growth plan includes the addition of 8 processing plants representing nearly 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of incremental processing capacity as well as 100,000 barrels per day of additional fractionation capacity in the prolific Marcellus, Utica and Permian basins. The remaining growth capital is planned for the development of various crude oil and refined products infrastructure projects, including the export-capacity expansion project at the Galveston Bay refinery.

"Looking forward, we believe the global and U.S. macro picture remains solid and expect that good underlying economic growth will continue to support strong demand for our products. Export markets, which have been important to the high utilization of our refineries, are also expected to remain robust. Recent tax legislation complements our outlook and stimulates further investment in the business," Heminger said. "As the nation's second-largest refiner, the sponsor of one of the largest diversified master limited partnerships in MPLX, and an industry leader in retail through our Speedway business, we are uniquely positioned to deliver compelling and sustainable returns for our investors."

Segment Results

Total income from operations was $1.12 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 and $3.97 billion for full-year 2017, compared with $553 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 and $2.38 billion for full-year 2016.

Refining & Marketing

Refining & Marketing (R&M) segment income from operations was $732 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and $2.32 billion for full-year 2017, compared with $166 million and $1.36 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016 and full-year 2016, respectively.

The increase in quarter-over-quarter segment results was primarily a result of a $1.81 per barrel increase in the R&M margin. This favorable effect was primarily due to higher blended crack spreads and utilization rates as well as the widening of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) / Light Louisiana Sweet (LLS) crude oil differential. The U.S. Gulf Coast and Chicago LLS blended 6-3-2-1 crack spread increased to $9.75 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2017 from $7.39 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2016. These favorable effects were partially offset by less favorable product price realizations relative to the spot market prices used in the LLS blended crack spread. Refinery throughputs exceeded 2 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter and crude oil capacity utilization was 101 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 as compared to 93 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Excluding the $345 million LCM benefit recognized in 2016, the increase in segment results for full-year 2017 compared with full-year 2016 primarily resulted from higher LLS crack spreads in both the U.S. Gulf Coast and Chicago markets. The LLS blended crack spread for the full-year 2017 increased to $9.84 per barrel from $6.96 per barrel in 2016. These favorable effects were partially offset by less favorable product price realizations as compared to the spot market prices used in the LLS blended crack spread.

Speedway

Speedway segment income from operations was $149 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and $732 million for full-year 2017, compared with $165 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 and $734 million for full-year 2016, which includes a $25 million LCM benefit.

The decrease in quarter-over-quarter segment results was primarily due to higher operating expenses and lower merchandise margin partially offset by an increase in the light product margin. Speedway's light product margin increased to 17.72 cents per gallon in the fourth quarter of 2017 from 16.17 cents per gallon in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Excluding the $25 million LCM benefit recognized in 2016, the increase in segment results for the full-year 2017 compared to full-year 2016 was primarily due to contributions from its travel center joint venture formed in the fourth quarter 2016 and lower operating expense partially offset by lower merchandise margin and lower gains from asset sales.

Midstream

Midstream segment income from operations, which primarily reflects the results of MPLX's operations on a 100 percent basis, was $343 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and $1.34 billion for full-year 2017, compared with $296 million and $1.05 billion for the fourth quarter and full-year 2016, respectively. The increases in segment results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2017 compared with respective periods in 2016 were primarily due to higher natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and fractionating volumes and changes in natural gas and NGL prices. Segment results also benefited from the first-quarter 2017 acquisitions of the Ozark Pipeline and our ownership interest in the Bakken Pipeline system.

Items Not Allocated to Segments

Corporate and other unallocated expenses of $114 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and $365 million for the full-year 2017 compared with $74 million and $268 million for the full-year 2016. The increases for the quarter and full year were due to higher unallocated corporate costs and increases in employee-related expenses and corporate costs.

Strong Financial Position and Liquidity

On Dec. 31, 2017, the company had $3 billion in cash and cash equivalents, excluding MPLX's cash and cash equivalents of $5 million, $2.5 billion available under a revolving credit agreement, $1 billion available under a 364-day bank revolving credit facility and approximately $750 million available under its $750 million trade receivables securitization facility. The company's liquidity should provide it with sufficient flexibility to meet its day-to-day operational needs and continue its balanced approach to investing in the business and returning capital to shareholders. The company remains committed to maintaining an investment-grade credit profile.

Conference Call

At 9 a.m. EST today, MPC will hold a conference call and webcast to discuss the reported results and provide an update on company operations. Interested parties may listen to the conference call by dialing 1-888-989-4720 (confirmation #4852094) or by visiting MPC's website at http://www.marathonpetroleum.com and clicking on the "2017 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Financial Results" link. Replays of the conference call will be available on the company's website through Thursday, Feb. 15. Financial information, including the earnings release and other investor-related material, will also be available online prior to the conference call and webcast at http://ir.marathonpetroleum.com in the Quarterly Investor Packet and Earnings Capsule.

About Marathon Petroleum Corporation

MPC is the nation's second-largest refiner, with a crude oil refining capacity of approximately 1.9 million barrels per calendar day in its six-refinery system. Marathon brand gasoline is sold through approximately 5,600 independently owned retail outlets across 20 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, Speedway LLC, an MPC subsidiary, owns and operates the nation's second-largest convenience store chain, with approximately 2,740 convenience stores in 21 states. Through subsidiaries, MPC owns the general partner of MPLX LP, a midstream master limited partnership. Primarily through MPLX, MPC owns, leases or has ownership interests in approximately 10,800 miles of crude oil and light product pipelines. Also through MPLX, MPC has ownership interests in gathering and processing facilities with approximately 5.9 billion cubic feet per day of gathering capacity, 8.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas processing capacity and 610,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity. MPC's fully integrated system provides operational flexibility to move crude oil, NGLs, feedstocks and petroleum-related products efficiently through the company's distribution network and midstream service businesses in the Midwest, Northeast, East Coast, Southeast and Gulf Coast regions.

References to Earnings
References to earnings mean net income attributable to MPC from the statements of income. Unless otherwise indicated, references to earnings and earnings per share are MPC's share after excluding amounts attributable to noncontrolling interests.

Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws regarding Marathon Petroleum Corporation ("MPC") and MPLX LP ("MPLX"). These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, expectations, estimates and projections concerning the business and operations of MPC and MPLX, including strategic initiatives and our value creation plans. You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "design," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "guidance," "imply," "intend," "objective," "opportunity," "outlook," "plan," "position," "pursue," "prospective," "predict," "project," "potential," "seek," "strategy," "target," "could," "may," "should," "would," "will" or other similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the companies' control and are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause MPC's actual results to differ materially from those implied in the forward-looking statements include: the ability to consummate the strategic initiatives discussed herein; our ability to achieve the strategic and other objectives related to the strategic initiatives discussed herein; our ability to manage disruptions in credit markets or changes to our credit rating; adverse changes in laws including with respect to tax and regulatory matters; changes to the expected construction costs and timing of projects; continued/further volatility in and/or degradation of market and industry conditions; the availability and pricing of crude oil and other feedstocks; slower growth in domestic and Canadian crude supply; the effects of the lifting of the U.S. crude oil export ban; completion of pipeline capacity to areas outside the U.S. Midwest; consumer demand for refined products; transportation logistics; the reliability of processing units and other equipment; MPC's ability to successfully implement growth opportunities; the impact of adverse market conditions affecting MPC's and MPLX's midstream businesses; modifications to MPLX earnings and distribution growth objectives, and other risks described below with respect to MPLX; compliance with federal and state environmental, economic, health and safety, energy and other policies and regulations, including the cost of compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard, and/or enforcement actions initiated thereunder; adverse results in litigation; changes to MPC's capital budget; other risk factors inherent to MPC's industry; and the factors set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in MPC's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, filed with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Factors that could cause MPLX's actual results to differ materially from those implied in the forward-looking statements include: negative capital market conditions, including an increase of the current yield on common units, adversely affecting MPLX's ability to meet its distribution growth guidance; the ability to consummate the strategic initiatives discussed herein; our ability to achieve the strategic and other objectives related to the strategic initiatives discussed herein and other proposed transactions; adverse changes in laws including with respect to tax and regulatory matters; the adequacy of MPLX's capital resources and liquidity, including, but not limited to, availability of sufficient cash flow to pay distributions and access to debt to fund anticipated dropdowns on commercially reasonable terms, and the ability to successfully execute its business plans and growth strategy; the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices and demand for crude oil, refined products, feedstocks or other hydrocarbon-based products; continued/further volatility in and/or degradation of market and industry conditions; changes to the expected construction costs and timing of projects; completion of midstream infrastructure by competitors; disruptions due to equipment interruption or failure, including electrical shortages and power grid failures; the suspension, reduction or termination of MPC's obligations under MPLX's commercial agreements; modifications to earnings and distribution growth objectives; our ability to manage disruptions in credit markets or changes to our credit rating; compliance with federal and state environmental, economic, health and safety, energy and other policies and regulations and/or enforcement actions initiated thereunder; adverse results in litigation; changes to MPLX's capital budget; other risk factors inherent to MPLX's industry; and the factors set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in MPLX's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, filed with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included herein could be affected by general domestic and international economic and political conditions. Unpredictable or unknown factors not discussed here, in MPC's Form 10-K or in MPLX's Form 10-K could also have material adverse effects on forward-looking statements. Copies of MPC's Form 10-K are available on the SEC website, MPC's website at http://ir.marathonpetroleum.com or by contacting MPC's Investor Relations office. Copies of MPLX's Form 10-K are available on the SEC website, MPLX's website at http://ir.mplx.com or by contacting MPLX's Investor Relations office.