(Changes "historic" to "replacement", paragraph 3)
June 22 (Reuters) - Australian fuel supplier Caltex Australia Ltd CTX.AX said on Thursday it expects underlying half-yearly net profit to rise as much as 22 percent as it benefited from higher refiner margins and bigger volumes of premium diesel sales.
Net profit "on a replacement cost" basis was expected between A$290 million ($218.81 million) and A$310 million for the six months to June 30, 2017, up from A$254 million in the same period a year earlier, the company said.
Caltex says net profit on a replacement cost basis is a better measure of its performance because it excludes changes in the oil price. The forecast also excluded significant items for the six-month period.
($1 = 1.3254 Australian dollars)