S-Oil Suffers Earnings Setback on Narrower Refining Margins — Update

By Kwanwoo Jun

S-Oil suffered an earnings setback in the second quarter amid weaker oil demand and narrower refining margins.

The South Korean oil refiner controlled by Saudi Aramco on Friday reported a net loss of 21.34 billion won, equivalent to $15.4 million, for the quarter ended June, following a net profit of 166.20 billion won in the prior quarter.

That missed a FactSet-compiled consensus forecast for net profit of 6.26 billion won for the second quarter.

Revenue increased 22% from a year ago to 9.571 trillion won for the quarter, and operating profit quadrupled to 160.65 billion won, the company said.

The company said that its petrochemical segment posted a decent profit increase but its flagship oil-refining segment was in the red, as refining margins narrowed to $0.00 from $5.00 a barrel in the first quarter amid sluggish demand.

Margins could improve in the third quarter on a recovery in demand for petroleum, jet fuel and other energy products thanks to seasonal demand for transportation fuel and growing air-travel needs, it said.

Shares in the company have fallen 3.9% so far this year.

Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 25, 2024 21:52 ET (01:52 GMT)

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