Idemitsu Kosan posts increases in net profit, operating profits and sales

Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan posted a 13% increase in net profit for the April-December period, reaching 45.1 billion yen (US$544.2 million). Operating profit spiked 12.1% year-on-year to 95 billion yen (US$1.14 billion) in the same period, and revenue reached 3.174 trillion yen (US$38.29 billion), a 20.8% increase year-on-year. Idemitsu said the higher income was due to higher inventory valuations brought about by higher crude and naphtha prices, which offset the low demand for oil products and petrochemicals caused by the earthquake on March 11, 2011. From April to December, the company saw a 1.5% increase in the sale of petroleum products from a year ago to 18.226 million kiloliters or 114.64 million barrels. But the company had year-on-year declines for all of its oil products except fuel oil, which jumped 47.9% year-on-year to 2.37 million kiloliters during the same period. The increase in fuel oil sales was due to the increase in fuel oil demand for thermal power generation which made up for the decrease in nuclear output in the country following the March 2011 earthquake. (February 6, 2012)