Global Partners' net income was down for both the fourth quarter of 2024 and full year, the company reported Friday on its earnings call.
Net income for the Waltham, Massachusetts-based convenience-store chain was $23.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, which ended Dec. 31, compared with $55.3 million in the same period of 2023. For full-year 2024 net income was $110.3 million, compared with $152.5 million in 2023.
- Global Partners is No. 21 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Eric Slifka, president and CEO, said that “2024 has been a transformative year of growth for Global Partners, strengthening our position in the U.S. liquid energy market and expanding our ability to serve our growing wholesale, retail and commercial customer base."
Slifka added, “Our retail teams have continued to elevate the experience with new offerings for our guests at our few locations and convenience markets. Both our wholesale and GDSO (gasoline distribution and station operations) segments demonstrated robust growth in 2024.”
Station operations product margin, which includes convenience store and prepared food sales, sundries and rental income, increased $300,000 to $67,900,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024, Slifka said.
“During the year, we continued to optimize our retail portfolio through divestitures and conversions of certain company-operated sites. At quarter end, our GDSO portfolio of fueling stations and c-stores totaled 1,584 sites,” he said.
Other financial highlights include:
- Gross profit was $268.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with $280.4 million in 2023. Gross profit was $1.1 billion for full-year 2024 compared with $973.6 million in 2023.
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $94.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with $110.9 million in the same period a year earlier. EBITDA was $389.4 million for full-year 2024 compared with $356.4 million in the same period of 2023.
- Adjusted EBITDA was $97.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 versus $112.1 million in the same period of 2023. Adjusted EBITDA was $388.9 million for full-year 2024 versus $356.3 million in the same period of 2023.
Tariffs
When asked about tariffs that President Donald Trump said will begin March 4 and how much of Global Partners’ fuel supply comes from outside U.S borders, Mark Romaine, chief operating officer, said that due to competitive reasons, he couldn’t say what percentage of supply comes from outside the U.S.
But, he added, “Canadian barrels are an important part of the entire supply landscape for New England maybe into the Northeast.”
He said Global Partners is holding meetings and doing scenario planning “trying to understand what the potential impact might be. We’ve never really dealt with this before, so it’s a little bit unknown at the moment.”
However, Romaine said the company’s system is designed to allow it to source barrels from anywhere, “and that’s one of the great things about our system and our assets is that we’re not tied to any one source of supply. So, we can literally go anywhere for a barrel, and I think that's important. So, while we’ll stay close to it, we’ll make sure that our system, that we do the best to supply our system for our customers, but I think we have flexibility to go anywhere to get a barrel.”
Terminal Acquisitions
The acquisition of 25 terminals in December 2023 extended the company’s network into Maryland, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Texas, expanding operations to 18 states, Slifka said.
“This acquisition also included a significant 25-year take-or-pay contract with Motiva, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco,” Slifka said. “In April 2024, we further strengthened our Northeast presence with the acquisition and integration of four additional terminals. In November, we expanded again, acquiring a 959,730-barrel liquid energy terminal in East Providence, Rhode Island, enhancing our capacity to handle larger cargo-sized vessels.”
Since late 2023, the company has more than doubled its terminal count and capacity, integrating 30 additional terminals and increasing its total storage capacity by 12.1 million barrels to 22 million barrels, Slifka said.
Global Partners’ diverse assets continue to perform well, Slifka added.
“With an expanded operating footprint, greater access to critical pipeline and marine networks, and a strong balance sheet, Global is well-positioned to leverage its supply, terminaling and marketing expertise to seize growth opportunities and create long-term value for our unitholders,” he said.
Global is one of the largest liquid-energy companies on the East Coast, operating and managing dedicated storage at 54 terminals, strategically connected to rail, pipeline and marine assets, extending from Maine to Florida and into the U.S. Gulf States. In 2024, the company expanded its reach with two acquisitions, adding five terminals to its network. The company is also advancing its transition to low-carbon, renewable fuel options to meet evolving energy demands.
Global Partners owns, operates or supplies more than 1,700 retail locations across the Northeast states, the Mid-Atlantic and Texas, of which 353 are company owned. Brands include Alltown Fresh, Honey Farms and XtraMart, among others.
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