S-Oil reports 44 pct rise in Q1 earnings

S-Oil reports 44 pct rise in Q1 earnings
By Nam Kwang-sik
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- S-Oil Corp., South Korea's third-largest refiner, said
Wednesday its net profit rose 44 percent on-year in the first quarter thanks to
increased sales of high-margin products.

Net income came to 165.8 billion won (US$130 million) in the January-March
period, compared with 114.8 billion won a year ago, S-Oil said in a regulatory
filing.
Sales, however, fell 22 percent year-on-year to 3.77 trillion won due to a fall
in the crude price, while operating profit rose 27 percent to 401.4 billion won.
Shares of S-Oil rose 0.17 percent to 60,700 won as of 10:08 a.m. on the Seoul
bourse.
"Increased sales of high-margin products such as kerosene and naphtha contributed
to the good first-quarter performance despite foreign exchange losses," the
company said.
S-Oil posted a foreign-exchange loss of 195.8 billion won during the same period
due to the South Korean won's depreciation against the U.S. dollar. The won fell
over 30 percent against the greenback in the first quarter from a year ago.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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