Dahlman Rose Comments On 1Q11 EPS Results On Aegean

According to Dahlman Rose, Aegean Marine Petroleum Network ANW 1Q11 EPS results were much better than expected at $0.09, compared to the ($0.03) and the Street's ($0.01) forecast. Dahlman Rose said that the beat was driven by a large increase in the spread captured on bunker fuel sales. "Aegean's spread increased significantly to $22.40/ton from $16/ton during 4Q10. We attribute the jump to a changing geographic mix of Aegean's fleet along with much higher bunker fuel prices during the quarter. On average, Aegean sold bunker fuel during 1Q11 at $589/ton compared to $501/ton in 4Q10. Both the main business and Verbeke saw higher margins q/q, with Verbeke capturing ~$14/ton versus ~$11.50/ton, and the main business ~$26/ton versus ~$19/ton." Aegean closed yesterday at $8.45.