Afton Chemical, NewMarket Corp's petroleum additives subsidiary, began 2015 with quarterly operating profit of $105.0 million, representing an improvement of 9.2% over last year’s first quarter operating profit of $96.2 million. Lower raw material costs between the quarterly periods resulting from lower prices were the primary driver of the increase. Sales of petroleum additives for this year’s first quarter were $554.8 million, down 3.4% versus the same period last year, mainly due to changes in foreign currency rates. Afton Chemical had record first quarter shipments in 2015, which were up 1.5% over the prior year quarter.

During the quarter, the company funded capital expenditures of $20.4 million primarily to support the construction of the Singapore plant.

Parent company NewMarket Corp's net income for the first quarter of 2015 increased to $63.9 million, an improvement of 11.2% over net income for the first quarter of 2014 of $57.5 million. Earnings for both the first quarter of this year and last year included an unfavorable impact from valuing an interest rate swap at fair value.