US Oil Refiner HollyFrontier's Profit Tops Estimates

Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. oil refiner HollyFrontier Corp on Wednesday reported a quarterly profit that handily beat analysts' estimates, helped by higher production and refinery margins.

HollyFrontier said its refinery gross margin jumped 29.2 percent to $11.47 per produced barrel in the second quarter ended June 30.

The company produced 483,210 barrels per day (bpd) of refined products, compared with 442,660 bpd, a year earlier.

Robust demand for refined products and declining inventories have benefited refiners, whose margins dipped sharply last year due to a gasoline and diesel glut.

Net profit attributable to HollyFrontier's shareholders was $57.8 million, or 33 cents per share in the quarter, compared with a loss of $409.4 million, or $2.33 per share, a year earlier.

HollyFrontier took an asset impairment charge of more than $600 million in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 66 cents per share, beating analysts' average expectation of 47 cents according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales and other revenue climbed 27.4 percent to $3.46 billion.

(Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Sai Sachin Ravikumar)