Vertex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:VTNR) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 9, 2023 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

John Ragozzino - Investor Relations

Benjamin Cowart - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

James Rhame - Chief Operating Officer

Chris Carlson - Chief Financial Officer

Doug Haugh - Chief Commercial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Noah Kaye - Oppenheimer

Eric Stine - Craig Hallum

Amit Dayal - H.C. Wainwright

Manav Gupta - UBS

Brian Butler - Stifel

Donovan Shafer - Northland

Jason Gabelman - TD Cowen

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the Vertex Energy Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today's presentation there will be an opportunity to ask question. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to John Ragozzino, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

John Ragozzino

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Vertex Energy’s second quarter 2023 results conference call. On the call today are Chairman and CEO, Ben Cowart; Chief Financial Officer, Chris Carlson; Chief Operating Officer, James Rhame; Chief Strategy Officer, Alvaro Ruiz; and Chief Commercial Officer, Doug Haugh.

I want to remind you that management’s commentary and responses to questions on today’s conference call may include forward-looking statements, which by their nature are uncertain and outside of the company’s control. Although, these forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs, actual results may differ materially.

For a discussion of some of the risk factors that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to the Risk Factors section of Vertex Energy’s latest annual and quarterly filings with the SEC. Additionally, please note that you can find reconciliations of the historical non-GAAP financial measures discussed on our call in the press release issued today.

Today’s call will begin with remarks from Ben Cowart, followed by an operational review from James Rhame and financial review from Chris Carlson followed by a review of our commercial strategy by Doug Haugh. At the conclusion of these prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions.

With that, I will turn the call over to Ben.

Benjamin Cowart

Thank you, John, and good morning to those joining us on the call today. during the second quarter of 2023 market shifts in refining margins combined with startup expenses associated with our renewable diesel facility impacted profitability at the Mobile facility. While several factors associated with the startup and optimization of our RD facility affected financial results for the quarter, the primary limiting factor on expected financial performance is attributed to the volatility of market conditions for refined fuels and products.