Viva Energy says that the intermediate quadruple profit, to repay the capital

Adds sales details, outlook

August 24 (Reuters) – Australian group Viva Energy VEA.AX on Tuesday announced an increase of more than four times its half-yearly profit, helped by a rebound in demand for fuel, and said it would make a capital repayment of around A $ 100 million ($ 72.11 million ) to shareholders.

The fuel supplier also said it plans to make a share market buyback of up to A $ 40 million.

Australia’s control over the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year resulted in a takeover of businesses from Viva and its big rival Ampol ALD.AX, but they now face the risks of a new wave of restrictions brought on by the rapidly spreading Delta variant.

Viva warned that the capital’s recent closures would likely hurt retail fuel volumes for the rest of the year, with restrictions in Victoria and New South Wales impacting refinery demand and production.

The company’s after-tax profit for the six-month period ended June 30 was A $ 111.9 million ($ 80.72 million) on a replacement cost basis, while it also declared an interim dividend of 4.1 Australian cents per share.

Its sales volumes for the six-month period reached 6.7 billion liters, up from 6.4 billion liters a year ago.

($ 1 = 1.3862 Australian dollar)

(Reporting by Soumyajit Saha in Bangalore; Editing by Aditya Soni and Uttaresh.V)

((Soumyajit.Saha@thomsonreuters.com;))

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