April 18, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] S-Oil said on Jan. 28 it shifted to a net loss for the October-December period due to inventory-related losses.

For the three months that ended in December, the company’s net loss stood at 247.85 billion won (US$222 million) from a net profit of 386.94 billion won a year earlier, S-Oil said in a statement. 

“Crude oil inventory-related losses worth 390 billion won cut into the quarterly bottom line amid declining oil prices. Moreover, foreign exchange losses also weighed on the results amid the won’s strength against the dollar,” a company spokesman said.

The refiner also shifted to an operating loss of 292.36 billion won in the last three months of 2018 from an operating profit of 386.31 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 18 percent to 6.861 trillion won from 5.814 trillion won, it said.

For the whole of 2018, net profits plunged 73 percent to 333.98 billion won from 1.246 trillion won a year earlier, the statement said.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)