SK Energy Q1 net rises 2 pct on weaker won

(ATTN: UPDATES para 3; ADDS more details from para 5; CORRECTS net-income figure in
para 2)
By Nam Kwang-sik
SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- SK Energy Co., South Korea's top oil refiner, said
Friday its first-quarter earnings gained 2 percent from a year earlier thanks to
a weaker won and robust earnings from oil exploration.
Net income amounted to 247 billion won (US$184 million) in the January-March
period, compared with 243 billion won a year earlier, SK Energy said in a
regulatory filing.
Sales, however, fell 14 percent on-year to 8.1 trillion won due to a fall in
product prices, while operating profit rose 62 percent to 645 billion won, it
said.
Shares of SK Energy closed flat at 102,000 won on the Seoul bourse.
SK Energy attributed the bottom-line gain to strong exports stemming from the
South Korean won's fall against the U.S. dollar and China's economic stimulus
measures. Strong earnings from oil exploration projects also contributed, it
said.
The won fell over 30 percent versus the greenback in the January-March period
from the previous year.
The company's petroleum division reported a 48 percent jump on-year in
first-quarter operating income to 430 billion won, helped by increased exports of
oil products including gasoline, kerosene and diesel.
The petrochemical sector's operating profit jumped more than three-fold to 129.4
billion won in the first quarter on a surge in demand from China.
Sales for the oil exploration division rose 47 percent year-on-year to 150.6
billion won in the first three months ended March, with operating profit
advancing 60 percent to 97.1 billion won.
SK Energy increased its daily crude production capacity to 40,000 barrels in the
first quarter and participated in the development of new oil fields in Oman,
Brazil, Australia and Kazakhstan.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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