EL DORADO, Ark. — Despite an operating environment that its CEO said was the “most challenging” in the company’s history, Murphy USA Inc. reported net income for the three months ended June 30 of $128.8 million, compared to net income of $168.9 million, for second-quarter 2020.
Net income and adjusted EBITDA for second-quarter 2021 were lower when compared to the same period in 2020, primarily due to decreased all-in fuel contribution, higher store operating expenses and increased payment fees, partially offset by higher merchandise sales and margin.
“We delivered strong second-quarter results,” said President and CEO Andrew Clyde. “Supply chain issues, labor shortages and Colonial Pipeline interruptions were just a few of the challenges around which our teams were forced to navigate and overcome. Nevertheless, results were resilient despite these challenges and underpinned by strong fundamentals, including a recovery in attached merchandise categories as customer transactions and fuel volumes trended higher in June, coupled with robust all-in fuel margins despite another quarter of rising product prices.”
The results include newly acquired subsidiary QuickChek Corp. as of Jan. 29, when the 156-store transaction closed.
Total fuel contribution dollars decreased 2.5%, or $8 million, in second-quarter 2021 compared to second-quarter 2020. Retail fuel margins in second-quarter 2021 decreased to 21.8 cents per gallon (CPG), which was 31.2% lower than Q2 2020 due to rising fuel prices. There was a decrease in total retail fuel contribution dollars of $24.1 million compared to the prior-year quarter record results as overall lower retail fuel margins were partially offset by an increase in retail fuel volumes.
Total merchandise contribution increased 55.8% to $184.5 million in second-quarter 2021 from $118.4 million reported in the prior-year quarter, due to the inclusion of QuickChek in the current year combined with higher same-store sales, which were up 2.4% when compared to second-quarter 2020. On a same-store sales basis, tobacco contribution increased 2.2% and non-tobacco contribution improved 2.7% versus the prior-year quarter.
Food and beverage contribution, a subset of non-tobacco, experienced a significant shift to 15.2% of the total merchandise contribution primarily due to QuickChek's “robust” prepared food offer.
The company opened three new-to-industry (NTI) retail locations and closed one location in second-quarter 2021, bringing the network total to 1,662. This total consists of 1,151 Murphy USA stores, 356 Murphy Express stores and 155 QuickChek stores. There are a total of 29 company stores currently under construction, including nine new, 2,800-square-foot Murphy Express stores, six QuickChek stores and 14 raze-and-rebuilds.
- Murphy USA is No. 6 in CSP’s 2021 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by size. QuickChek was No. 46.
El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy USA has more than 1,650 gas stations in 27 states primarily in the Southwest, Southeast, Midwest and Northeast. Most of Murphy USA's sites are located adjacent to Walmart stores. The company also markets gasoline and other products at standalone convenience stores under the Murphy Express and QuickChek brands.
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