Seoul: SK Innovation Co., South Korea's leading refiner, announced that its net losses widened in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year, primarily due to a one-off factor.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the company's net losses for the three months ending in December increased to 4.15 trillion won (US$2.9 billion) from 1.04 trillion won in the same period of 2024. The losses were attributed to costs associated with SK On Co.'s stake handover in BlueOval SK, a joint venture with Ford Motor Co. operating battery plants in the United States.
A company spokesperson explained that the stake handover was recorded as costs in the quarterly results but will be recognized as income at a later date. The joint venture, established in 2022, ended in December last year due to a prolonged slump in the electric vehicle market, with SK On now managing the Tennessee plant and Ford overseeing the two plants in Kentucky.
Additionally, the company noted that declining refining margins amid an oversupply further impacted the quarterly results. Despite the net losses, SK Innovation reported a 67.6 percent increase in operating profit, reaching 294.7 billion won in the fourth quarter, alongside a 1.9 percent rise in sales to 19.67 trillion won.
For the full year of 2025, SK Innovation's net losses increased to 5.4 trillion won from the previous year's 2.37 trillion won. However, the company saw a 25.8 percent rise in full-year operating profit to 448.07 billion won, with sales increasing by 8.2 percent to 80.29 trillion won.