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Sacramento-based Pacific Ethanol reported a sharp rise in its second quarter profits Wednesday, attributing the increase in earnings to its 2015 acquisition of Aventine Energy Holdings Inc. of Pekin, Ill., a major Midwestern ethanol producer.
Pacific Ethanol earned $5.1 million in the second quarter compared with $1 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings jumped to 11 cents, from 3 cents and revenue grew 86 percent to a record $422.9 million as the company sold a total of 233 million gallons of the fuel additive during the quarter, compared with 141 million gallons a year earlier.
Shares of the company, which trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker PEIX, were up nearly 7 percent Thursday morning, trading at $6.90.