Revenues were $55.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2008, compared to $65.6 million in Q1 2007, a decrease of $10.1 million, or 15%, primarily as a result of a decrease of 4.7 million, or 20%, in gallons sold. The volume reduction caused $13.2 million of the decrease in revenue, offset by a positive $3.1 million price variance, largely due to overall higher market prices of petroleum products.
The net margin per gallon for the first quarters of fiscal 2008 and 2007 was 19.1 cents and 19.4 cents, respectively. The nominal decrease in margin was due to the higher margin emergency response revenue generated in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 in anticipation of Hurricane Ernesto.
Richard Gathright, chairman, CEO and president of SMF Energy, said: While the first quarter of fiscal 2008 was impacted by the transition to our new systems which are now allowing us to effectively eliminate duplicative costs from our prior acquisitions and operations, and create economies of scale, and by the refinancing of long term debt, we now intend to move forward with our diversification and growth plan to realize the value of our investments over many prior quarters.
