Marathon Petroleum Corp. ends year with $3.43 billion profit.
Marathon Petroleum Corporation got a $1.5 billion boost from the federal government’s tax cut during the fourth quarter.
Chairman and CEO Gary R. Heminger, during the conference call with investors Thursday, said the tax break was a catalyst for incremental investment in the business and supported the company’s recent dividend increase.
Marathon ended 2017 with an annual profit of $3.43 billion, or $6.70 per diluted share, almost three times what the company made in 2016. Revenue for last year was $75.4 billion.
Thanks to the tax break, fourth quarter earnings jumped to $2.02 billion, or $4.09 per diluted share, almost eight times the company’s profit during the same quarter the previous year. Revenue for the quarter was $21.2 billion.
Marathon's refining and marketing operation — including the Canton refinery — reported annual revenue of nearly $2.32 billion, up $964 million from 2016.
Heminger said the Speedway and midstream segments showed record performance as well.
Marathon returned more than $3 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buy-backs last year, and on Monday the company announced it would increase its quarterly dividend by 15 percent to 46 cents per share.
Looking ahead, Heminger said, he expected a more balanced supply and demand environment along with continued U.S. and world economic growth creating strong demand for Marathon’s products.
The company plans to invest $950 million this year in its refining and marketing operations and another $530 million to build new or remodel existing Speedway stores.
Marathon’s MPLX partnership has a $2.4 billion capital plan that includes eight new processing plants in the Utica, Marcellus and Permian basins.
Findlay-based Marathon is the nation's second-largest refiner. The company has six refineries, more than 2,700 convenience stores and 10,800 miles of pipeline.
Through its MPLX partnership, Marathon controls pipelines and processing plants in the Utica and Marcellus shales.