SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) — S-Oil Corp., South Korea’s third-largest refiner by crude oil input capacity, reported a net profit of 545.44 billion won (US$402 million) in the third quarter of 2020, a reversal from the same period in 2019 when the company incurred a net loss of 959.3 billion won. The improved performance was attributed to higher refining margins.
A company spokesman noted that the increase was largely due to higher oil prices as well as a tight supply caused by maintenance work at other Asian refiners. This was further augmented by increased demand for jet fuel and gasoline during the summer holiday season.
Operating profit for the third quarter of 2020 was 858.88 billion won, a 68 percent increase from the 511.66 billion won recorded in the same period of 2019. However, sales saw a 19 percent decline from 11.12 trillion won to 8.99 trillion won.
From January to September, net income decreased 58 percent to 788.33 billion won while operating profit dropped 60 percent to 1.41 trillion won. Sales also saw a 19 percent decrease from 31.85 trillion won to 25.99 trillion won.
S-Oil is 63.4 percent owned by Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil giant.