Friday, April 25th, 2014
SEOUL, KOREA - The operating profit of SK Innovation has shrunk by a large margin due to a lackluster performance of its petroleum and chemical units. The company said on April 25 that its first-quarter consolidated operating profit was 226.2 billion won, down 67.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago. This is almost 30 percent below the earlier market consensus of 291.6 billion won. The company's sales revenue was 1,688.9 billion won, 6.7 percent lower than the first quarter in 2013, almost meeting the market consensus.
By business unit, the chemical division fell short of making 84.5 billion won in operating profit, down 65 percent from a year ago, largely because of a cut in paraxylene sales margin and a drop in the sales of olefin-based products. The operating profit in its petroleum business has shrunk to 35 billion won, only a tenth of what it used to be a year ago. The operating profit rose slightly from the previous quarter, thanks to an improvement in refining margins in importing countries.
At 10:32 am on the 25th, the shares of SK Innovation were traded at 121,500 won, down 1.62 percent (2,000 won) from the previous day's 119,500 won, a decline for three consecutive trading days.