The country's largest oil refiner, Caltex Australia (CTX), recorded a 16.7% improvement in 1H13 net profit to $195m

The country's largest oil refiner, Caltex Australia (CTX), recorded a 16.7% improvement in 1H13 net profit to $195m. Its bottom line was held back by the substantial slide in the Australian dollar, surprise outages & depreciation costs. Despite the $39m FX loss between Jan-Jun, CTX expects the weaker currency to have a favourable impact on Australian dollar refiner margins. Revenue was a touch weaker, partly due to outages at its Lytton refinery in QLD & its Kurnell site in Sydney. Looking ahead, CTX expects marketing & distribution growth to continue together with the successful transition of its Sydney refinery into Australia's largest import terminal (plays in part in higher CAPEX for 2013). For more info visit: (VIEW LINK)