SEOUL — S-Oil Corp., South Korea's third-largest refiner by crude oil input capacity, announced on Monday that it turned a net profit in the third quarter of this year, attributing the financial turnaround to improved refining margins.
According to Yonhap News Agency, S-Oil reported a net profit of 545.44 billion won (approximately US$402 million) for the three months ending in September. This contrasts with a net loss of 9.59 billion won during the same period last year. The company spokesman attributed the shift to high oil prices, which led to improved refining margins and thus positively impacted the quarterly bottom line.
Further contributing to the financial turnaround was a tight supply in the third quarter, caused by maintenance work at some Asian refineries. Additionally, sales of jet fuel and gasoline surged due to increased travel demand over the summer holiday season. Operating profit for the third quarter increased by 68 percent to 858.88 billion won, up from 511.66 billion won a year ago. However, sales for the quarter were down by 19 percent, amounting to 8.99 trillion won compared to 11.12 trillion won during the same period last year.
The report also showed that from January to September of this year, net income declined by 58 percent to 788.33 billion won, compared to 1.87 trillion won in the year-ago period. During this same nine-month span, operating profit dropped 60 percent to 1.41 trillion won, while sales fell 19 percent to 25.99 trillion won.
S-Oil is 63.4 percent owned by Saudi Arabia's state-run oil giant, Aramco.