PHILADELPHIA—Oil refiner Sunoco Inc. said Wednesday it swung to a loss in its first quarter because of high crude-oil prices and lower demand that prompted a loss in the company's biggest segment.
For the quarter ended March 31, the company reported a loss of $59 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with a profit of $175 million, or $1.44 per share in the prior year quarter.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a loss of 41 cents per share.
The company's comparison was hurt by a year-ago gain related to the issuance of limited partnership units that boosted results in the 2007 first quarter.
Sunoco said its refining and supply business -- its largest -- lost $123 million in the quarter due to weakness in refined-product margins, particularly for gas. Margins for gas, the company said, were squeezed by higher crude-oil costs combined with lower products demand.
The company's other divisions performed well, but it wasn't enough to offset the loss in the refining and supply unit.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $12.80 billion from $9.14 billion in the first quarter of 2007. Analysts predicted revenue of $6.28 billion.
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