SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) on Wednesday reported a first-quarter loss of $1.85 billion, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the San Antonio-based company said it had a loss of $4.54. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 34 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 15 cents per share.

The oil refiner posted revenue of $22.1 billion in the period.

Valero Energy shares have decreased 38% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has decreased 11%. The stock has declined 36% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on VLO at https://www.zacks.com/ap/VLO

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News