Sale of Assets Helps Boost Tosco Net 151% in Quarter

Independent oil refiner Tosco Corp. said Monday that its net income rose 151% in the second quarter, but about one-third of the increase came from gains on the sale of assets.

At the same time, Tosco said it was “continuing to explore all feasible solutions for financial pressures caused by the company’s large bank debt.”

Those solutions, as previously reported, include the possible sale or merger of the company.

Tosco spokesman Robert Sears said Monday that “very preliminary” talks with possible buyers or merger partners had been held.

For the three months ended June 30, Tosco netted $46.9 million on revenue of $220.4 million, compared to a year earlier, when it earned $18.7 million on revenue of $434.5 million.

The most recent period included a gain of $10.5 million from the sale of assets.

The Santa Monica company now has only one refinery--its Avon facility near Martinez, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Previously, it had four refineries--two on the West Coast and two on the East Coast.

Tosco’s president, Matthew Talbot said the company was helped as profit margins on refined oil products increased in the first part of the quarter. But he noted that profit margins have been narrowing since May and that he couldn’t forecast third-quarter results because of uncertainty in the world oil market.