Showa Shell reports net profit of 23.1 billion yen in 2011

Japanese refiner Showa Shell reported a net profit of 23.1 billion yen (US$280.57 million) last year, up by 44.8% from a year ago. The company had a full-year operating profit of 60.3 billion yen (US$732.47 million), a jump of 64.3% from a year ago, and revenue was 18.1% higher at 2.77 trillion yen (US$33.63 billion). The high income was attributed to the increase in demand for heating fuels as a result of the cold wave that affected parts of the country during early 2012, as well as a recovery in the oil products market. Due to the increased overall domestic sales of oil products (excluding jet fuel), total oil products sales volume was up by 2.8% year-on-year, reaching 30.462 million kiloliters in 2011. A drop in Showa Shell’s oil products export volumes in 2011 also contributed to the increase. (February 14, 2012)