iMetal

Australia's top fuel retailer Ampol (ALD.AX), opens new tab reported a 23% drop in its first-half profit on Monday, hurt by weak refinery margins and operational and weather-related disruptions, though the result was better than what the market had feared.

Shares of the fuel retailer drifted within tight ranges in early trade, and were down 0.2% at A$29.08 as of 0115 GMT, after rising 0.7% earlier in the session. That compared with a largely flat broader ASX 200 benchmark index.

The company said Lytton's refinery margins started the second half strongly, with July being $9.95 per barrel, up from $7.44 per barrel in the first half.

Planned maintenance shutdowns and production losses from a cyclone disrupted operations, while weak Singapore refining margins pressured profitability at its Queensland refinery.

The refinery's underlying operating earnings shrank substantially to A$1.1 million ($716,650.00), from A$89.5 million a year ago, while earnings from its fuel and infrastructure division also nearly halved to A$118.3 million.

As a result, the company's net profit after tax from continuing operations for the six months ended June 30 fell to A$180.2 million on a replacement-cost basis, 23% lower than A$233.7 million a year ago, but beating the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$165.6 million.