Refiner Phillips 66's Profit Plunges 43%

U.S. refiner Phillips 66 reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by robust gasoline margins due to lower crude costs.

The company's shares were up about 1 percent at $79.75 in premarket trading on Friday.

Adjusted earnings, excluding special items of $60 million, were $710 million, or $1.31 per share, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.25 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

However, the company's quarterly profit was hurt by lower earnings from its midstream and chemicals businesses.

Adjusted earnings at the company's midstream business more than halved to $42 million in the quarter, hurt by a fall in natural gas prices.

The company's consolidated earnings fell to $650 million, or $1.20 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $1.15 billion, or $2.05 per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shounak Dasgupta)