Afton Chemical had another strong quarterly performance as sales for the third quarter of this year were $577.6 million, an improvement of 5.5 percent over sales for the same period last year of $547.7 million. Shipments were up approximately 6 percent. Sales of petroleum additives for the first nine months of this year were $1,717.3 million compared to sales in the first nine months of last year of $1,689.6 million, while shipments were up approximately 2 percent for the period.
The petroleum additives segment of NewMarket Corporation said operating profit remained relatively consistent between the third quarter periods, at $95.5 million in the third quarter of 2013 versus $96.3 million in the prior year third quarter. For the first nine months of this year, petroleum additives operating profit was $295.3 million compared to operating profit for the same period last year of $300.4 million.
NewMarket Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas E. Gottwald said "We expect that our petroleum additives operating profit in 2013 will exceed last years result. We continue to increase our investment in research and development to enable the continuing flow of innovative products and solutions to our customers. Our business continues to generate strong cash flows. Our strong cash flows coupled with the sale of the office building by Foundry Park I have resulted in a $247.3 million balance in our cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2013, along with a $71.9 million reduction in debt since year end 2012."
Parent company NewMarket Corporation had another strong quarterly performance, as petroleum additives net income for the third quarter of 2013 improved to $78.9 million, compared to net income of $64.7 million for the third quarter of 2012. For the first nine months of 2013, net income increased to $210.7 million compared to net income of $186.5 million for the first nine months of last year.
