(Reuters) - Oil refiner HollyFrontier Corp (N:HFC) posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as demand for its products picked up due to easing of coronavirus-led travel restrictions.
Demand for transportation fuels and lubricants stabilized and improved late in the quarter as compared to the end of the first quarter of 2020, the company said in a statement.
Refiners are witnessing a gradual recovery in fuel demand worldwide as economic activity resumes and lockdowns ease.
The company's net loss attributable to shareholders was $176.7 million, or $1.09 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30 compared with a profit of $196.9 million, or $1.15 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company posted a loss of 25 cents per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of a loss of 55 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
HollyFrontier recorded impairment charges of $429.5 million related to its Cheyenne Refinery and Petro-Canada Lubricants business in the quarter.
The company in June had said it would cease refinery operations at Cheyenne in July and cut around 200 jobs to curb costs.