Calumet Specialty posts fifth straight quarterly loss

Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP on Thursday reported another steep quarterly loss, but the performance marked an improvement over the previous four quarters.

The Indianapolis-based fuel-products company on Thursday said it lost $33.4 million, or 42 cents per share, in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $48.9 million, or 68 cents per share, during the same period of 2015.

Shares of Calumet were trading at $3.10 each late Thursday morning, down 12.7 percent from Wednesday’s close. The company's stock has fallen 84 percent since the beginning of the year.

Year-to-date, Calumet has posted a total of $249 million in losses. It lost $147.9 million in the second quarter alone after it divested itself of a money-losing North Dakota refinery that it had developed in partnership with WBI Energy, a subsidiary of North Dakota-based MDU Resources Group. That refinery had only begun selling diesel fuel in May 2015.

It also took a losses of $67.7 million in the first quarter and $116.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The company hasn't turned a quarterly profit since it earned $2.5 million in last year's second period.

Calumet’s third-quarter sales stood at $966.6 million, down from $1.14 billion during the same period a year ago.

Over the past 52 weeks, shares have traded between $2.79 and $27.06.

Calumet officials said the loss was due in part to two factors: an unfavorable inventory adjustment of $11 million and a $10.1 million expense related to federal renewable fuel standards compliance.