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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 12:15 p.m., Monday, October 13, 2008

Strong Tesoro earnings send shares soaring nearly 30%

Advertiser Staff

Tesoro Corp.'s third-quarter profit rose more than analysts estimated, resulting in the company's biggest jump in share price in more than five years, Bloomberg News reported. The San Antonio-based oil refiner and marketer operates Hawai'i's largest refinery and other refineries in the U.S. West.

Tesoro released a statement today saying it earned between $1.70 and $1.80 a share during the third quarter, when an after-tax inventory gain was included. The average analyst estimate was 63 cents excluding such gains, Bloomberg reported. Tesoro shares closed at $10.82 up $2.46 or 29.43 percent today.

Tesoro also announced its Chief Executive Officer Bruce Smith was forced to sell 251,000 of his 1.8 million shares in the company to meet a margin call.

The company said the shares were sold in accordance with an existing margin agreement and that depending on the direction of Tesoro's stock price, that further sales may be required.