Par Petroleum Bullish on Mid Pac Petroleum Acquisition

HOUSTON — Par Petroleum Corp. is excited about its acquisition of Mid Pac Petroleum LLC parent Koko'oha Investments Inc., which includes 85 convenience stores and gas stations in  Hawaii, Par Petroleum President and CEO Joseph Israel said during the company's 2015 fiscal first-quarter earnings call Monday.

The transaction, closed on April 1, also includes four terminals, for which Par Petroleum paid $107 million plus working capital. According to Israel, the Mid Pac acquisition will add between $30 million and $35 million in EBITDA annually.

Since the Mid Pac deal closed April 1, it was not a part of Par Petroleum's financial results for the first quarter, which ended March 31. Instead, the company's retail results comprised only the 31 Hawaii c-stores and gas stations Par Petroleum acquired from Tesoro Corp. in November 2013.

These 31 stores posted solid results, according to Israel, with the retail division contributing $6.5 million in EBITDA to the bottom line of the Houston-based integrated refiner and marketer of petroleum products.

Gas margins rose 7 percent year over year, while merchandise margins advanced 14 percent. Retail gallons sold increased by 830,000 gallons year over year to 12.16 million gallons.

The only negative in Par Petroleum's retail division was retail revenues, which declined by slightly more than $5 million year over year to $46.7 million.

As CSNews Online reported in April, Par Petroleum plans to integrate a new branding strategy for its 116 convenience stores and gas stations in the Aloha State in the near future. Israel did not discuss this topic during Monday's earnings call.

Companywide, Par Petroleum earned $500,000 in its 2015 fiscal first quarter, compared to a net loss of $14.6 million in the year-ago period.

"Increased on-island sales volume and refinery throughput have supported another positive quarter for Par Petroleum, with adjusted EBITDA of $22.4 million," concluded Israel. "Progress continues across the board to optimize our operations, integrate the Mid Pac business and position Par for growth."