Idemitsu Kosan reports net loss of JPY290 million in April-June quarter

Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan posted a consolidated net loss of JPY290 million (US$3.704 million) for the April-June quarter, compared with JPY28.5 billion (US$366.8 million) net profit in the year-ago period. While its revenue rose by 7% from a year ago to JPY1.057 trillion (US$13.6 billion), Idemitsu Kosan’s operating profit dropped 82.2% year-on-year to JPY48.51 billion (US$624.5 million) from April to June.
The company had to book inventory evaluation loss in the quarter due to a drop in crude oil prices and a steep drop in in oil product markets caused a deterioration in oil product margins. As a result, Idemitsu posted a JPY5 billion (US$64.3 million) loss in its oil product segments in the quarter, while its revenue increased 6.5% year-on-year to JPY864.7 billion (US$11.1 billion) thanks to its increased oil product sales volume. In the three month-period, Idemitsu Kosan sold 5.70 million kiloliters (394,000 barrels per day) of oil products in the domestic market, up by 6.4% from a year ago due mainly to its increased sales of naphtha, jet fuel and fuel oil. Its fuel oil sales volume surged 51.1% year-on-year to 902,000 kl in the April to June 30 quarter. (August 7, 2012)