Oilsands pipeline firm Inter Pipeline posts record Q2 net income of $260 million

Oilsands transport company Inter Pipeline Ltd. is reporting record second-quarter net income of $260 million or 63 cents per share, nearly double the $136 million or 35 cents it declared in the same period of 2018.

The increase comes despite only a slight rise in revenue to $642 million from $631 million and a decrease in its core pipeline volumes to 1.34 million barrels per day from 1.38 million bpd a year earlier.

Analysts had expected net income of $114 million on revenue of $594 million, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

The company says it increased its processing of natural gas liquids to 134,000 bpd in the three months ended June 30 from 113,000 bpd in the same period last year, while revenue from bulk storage grew to $26.9 million from $17.4 million thanks to an acquisition of a company with operations in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Separately, it announced it is considering the sale of its bulk liquid storage businesses in Europe with operations in the U.K., Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and Ireland and 37 million barrels of storage capacity to reduce debt and help finance its Heartland Petrochemical Complex near Edmonton.

Inter Pipeline reported spending $287 million on Heartland in the quarter to take total capital incurred to $1.6 billion.

It said 1,200 construction workers were on site at the end of June building the $3.5-billion project which is designed to convert plentiful propane into 525,000 tonnes per year of the plastic polypropylene.

Inter's results statement released after the Toronto Stock Exchange closed make no mention of its nine per cent stock price surge to $23.64 on Thursday.