Speedway by the numbers
• 471 gas stations in Ohio
• 1,371 gas stations in 7 states
• 16,739 employees across all Speedway stations and offices
• $695 million in merchandise sales from Jan. 2012 to March 2012
• $50 million in operating income from Jan. 2012 to March 2012
• 1.1 percent drop in gas sales Jan. 2012 to March 2012
Source: Marathon Petroleum Corp.
ENON — Higher merchandise sales at Enon-based Speedway SuperAmerica stations helped push first-quarter earnings up nearly 13 percent for parent company Marathon Petroleum Corp..
Marathon said Tuesday it earned $596 million, or $1.70 per share, in the three-month period that ended March 31. That’s up from $529 million, or $1.48 per share, in the first quarter of 2011.
Sales for the quarter were almost $20.3 billion, up almost 13 percent from $17.8 billion during the same time last year.
Speedway’s merchandise sales through March were $695 million, compared with $663 million during the year-ago period. Speedway’s operating income climbed to $50 million from $33 million during first quarter last year.
Sales from Speedway stations that were open for at least a year climbed 2 percent in the most recent quarter, compared with an increase of 1.7 percent during the same time last year, Marathon said. But Speedway had a 1.1 percent drop in gas sales last quarter.
Speedway, which operates 471 stores in Ohio and more than 1,370 in seven states, has use its Speedy Rewards promotions to lure customers inside after getting gas to buy other items, said Shane Pochard, company spokesman.
“Where the real profit would be made is convenience store merchandise,” said Gregg Laskoski, a senior petroleum analyst at Gasbuddy.com. “Gasoline tends to have pretty narrow profit margins, whereas the other merchandise has a proportionally greater profit margin.”
The quarterly report is the first by Marathon Petroleum since it was spun off by Marathon Oil.
Energy analyst Jim Ritterbusch said demand remains weak because consumers continue to cut back with prices still high.
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