Tulsa’s Blueknight Energy Partners, L.P. reported increased third quarter earning as net income was $7 million compared to $2.4 million reported in the same period in 2018. The increase came after a failed attempt by Ergon to acquire the Oklahoma company last summer.
The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $18 million for the quarter compared to the $14.5 million in the third quarter of 2018.
“The business delivered this quarter. Asphalt volumes and throughput were significantly higher after a slow start to the year due to heavy rains in the spring. Our crude oil business continues to outperform versus the same period last year, led by our Cushing crude oil storage business,” said Mark Hurley, Chief Executive Officer.
He said the adjusted EBITDA for the first nine months of 2019 is tracking in line with the company’s target.
“Despite minimizing our growth capital expenditures in 2019 to improve our balance sheet, our business has found ways to grow through optimizing our assets and capturing efficiencies throughout our business. After adjusting for transaction costs, I am pleased to report we have reduced corporate overhead costs by approximately 20% year-over-year,” he added.
Of the company’s different operations, asphalt terminalling saw a decrease of $0.5 million compared to a year ago, primarily due to the sale of three asphalt facilities last year. The company’s crude oil terminalling services increased $2.1 million for the quarter.
Crude oil pipeline services saw a $1.1 million increase. But crude oil trucking services saw a 14% drop in average volumes for the quarter.
Overall cash flow from operations was $11.6 million, an increase over the $9 million for the same period in 2018.
The company stated it ended the quarter with total debt of $258.6 million.
The third quarter report was the first since Ergon pulled its offer to acquire the company in August. The withdrawl came after Ergon could not reach an agreement after it had offered to acquire all outstanding Blueknight Energy common units it did not already own.