Petroplus Holdings AG (SWX: PPHN) today announced that it has
completed the purchase of the Ingolstadt refinery located in
Ingolstadt, Germany, together with selected wholesale operations. The
Ingolstadt refinery has a rated crude capacity of 110,000 barrels per
day and its major units include atmospheric and vacuum distillation
units, a catalytic reformer and a fluid catalytic cracking unit.
Commenting on the acquisition, Thomas D. O'Malley, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Petroplus, remarked, "We are very pleased
to be adding a very reliably run refinery and a professional group of
refining personnel to our company. We expect to leverage this refining
knowledge and expertise throughout our refining systems to further
elevate the best practices in safe, reliable operations." O'Malley
added, "We think this is an opportune time to be adding quality assets
to our portfolio as refining market fundamentals continue to support
strong refining margins. The middle distillate cracks in the first
quarter of 2007 are higher than any of the same periods in the
previous three years. Almost 50% of the oil product production at
Ingolstadt is middle distillates. This well run facility, with its
production focused on the middle of the barrel, greatly enhances our
inland market refining system."
Commenting on the financing for the acquisition, Karyn F. Ovelmen,
Chief Financial Officer of Petroplus, said, "The purchase, including
inventory and other adjustments totaled approximately $627.5 million,
was financed with cash on hand and drawings under our working capital
facilities. After the financing for this acquisition, our debt
outstanding is approximately $560 million and our total debt to total
capitalization is about 26%." Ovelmen continued, "Ingolstadt
represents a significant increase to the earnings and cash flow
potential of Petroplus. Its location in a niche inland market provides
for product premiums on the oil products sold within the region. With
Ingolstadt, we are adding an additional 37% of refining capacity to
our system, increasing our geographic diversity and increasing the
overall complexity of our refining system. This acquisition makes our
company profitability and free cash flows more resilient to market
fluctuations in oil product refining cracks."
Bruce Jones, Chief Operating Officer, concluded, "Ingolstadt has
an excellent safety record and Petroplus is committed to maintaining
that safety record and continuing environmental compliance at
Ingolstadt."
Petroplus Holdings AG is one of the largest independent refiners
and wholesalers of petroleum products in Europe. Petroplus focuses on
refining and currently owns and operates four refineries across
Europe: the Ingolstadt refinery in Ingolstadt, Germany, the Belgium
Refining Company refinery in Antwerp, Belgium, the Cressier refinery
in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and the Teesside refinery in
Teesside, United Kingdom. Petroplus has entered into an agreement with
BP PLC to purchase the Coryton Refinery in the United Kingdom. The
existing refineries have a combined throughput capacity of
approximately 405,000 bpd. The Coryton Refinery has a crude oil
throughput capacity of approximately 172,000 barrels per day and can
process up to an additional 70,000 barrels per day of other
feedstocks.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including
the company's current expectations with respect to future market
conditions, future operating results, the future performance of its
refinery operations, and other plans. Words such as "expects,"
"intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "may,"
"will," "should," "shall," and similar expressions typically identify
such forward-looking statements. Even though Petroplus believes the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations
will be attained. Information herein regarding the Coryton refinery
has been provided to the company by the current owner of the refinery
and reflects the company's analysis of such information but has not
been verified by the company. Factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited
to, operational difficulties, varying market conditions, potential
changes in gasoline, crude oil, distillate, and other commodity
prices, government regulations, and other factors contained from time
to time in Petroplus' annual and interim reports.