New Zealand Refining Company has turned around last year's first-half loss to report a net profit of $5.2 million due to improving margins and a return to reliable processing.
The company reported net profit for the six months ended June, compares with a loss of 2.3 million dollars in the same six months last year.
Operating earnings also rose to $45 million compared with $30 million last year.
Revenue in the first quarter was hurt by weak refining margins, the strong New Zealand dollar, delayed crude deliveries and an unplanned outage at the Marsden Point refinery.
Refining New Zealand said there has been a steady improvement in refining margins, which it was able to capitalise on, but it does not expect this to be sustained.
The company said there's an excess of capacity in global refining and this will drive further margin volatility. The relative strength of the New Zealand dollar also continues to put pressures on its earnings.
