Nippon Oil Q1 earnings triple, ups forecast

31 July 2007 09:55  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Nippon Oil posted a 274.3% year-on-year jump in first quarter operating income for the refining and sales segment due partly to improved margins for products such as paraxylene and benzene as well as cost cuts, the firm said on Tuesday.

The Japanese oil refiner also raised its income forecast for the half year and full year amid rising crude prices.

The refining and sales segment’s operating income for the quarter ended 30 June yen (Y) 55.4bn ($443m), up from Y14.8bn a year earlier, while net sales for the same period rose 5.2% to Y1453.8bn from Y1381.5bn year on year.

Consolidated operating profit for the quarter was Y79.3bn, up 82.8% from Y43.4bn the previous year. Net sales were 4.6% higher at Y1575.8bn than Y1506.9bn a year ago, while net income was up 83.7% to Y52.7bn from Y28.7bn.

Quarterly operating income for the oil and natural gas development segment decreased 16.3% to Y24.1bn from Y28.8bn year on year, while net sales during the same period fell 6.5% to Y46.2bn from Y49.4bn the year before.

The Japanese oil refiner attributed the decline in the segment’s operating income primarily to the decreased sales volume of crude oil and natural gas.

Meanwhile, Nippon Oil raised the consolidated operating income forecast for the first half-year ending 30 September to Y138bn, up 50% from Y92bn, previously forecast on 26 April, 2007.

The company said this was because the negative influence of inventories was expected to improve due to the rising price of crude oil.

The latest forecast for the first half-year net sales is Y3310bn, up 3.4% from the original forecast of Y3200bn.

Nippon Oil’s estimate for the consolidated operating profit for the full-year ending March 2008 was also increased by 24.7% to Y237bn from Y190bn, previously forecast in April.

Full-year net sales were raised by 3.4% to Y6990bn from Y6760bn.

($1 = Y119)

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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