Nippon Oil nine-month op income rises 71.8%

31 January 2008 10:14  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Nippon Oil on Thursday reported a 71.8% increase in its nine-month operating income compared with the previous year due to improved inventory valuation factors.

Consolidated operating income for the nine months ended 31 December was yen (Y) 223.5bn ($2.1bn), up from Y130.1bn in the same time a year earlier, while net sales were 8.9% higher at Y5,317.8bn than Y4,881.2bn, the Japanese refiner said in a statement.

Nine-month operating income in the refining and marketing segment jumped 258.8% to Y122bn from Y34bn the previous year, while net sales increased 9.7% to Y4,880.8bn from Y4,448.4bn.

Sales volume of petroleum products during the nine months was 51.37m kilolitres, a 2.4% increase from the year-ago period, the company said.

This was primarily due to a continued decline in demand for gasoline stemming from the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient vehicles, as well as decline in demand for industrial fuel, it added.

Meanwhile, demand for heavy fuel oil C and crude oil for use in power stations rose in response to the cessation of operations at a nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture due to an earthquake, the company said.

Exports of those products also increased year on year, it added.

In exploration, development and production, Nippon Oil's nine-month operating profit increased 8% to Y96.2bn from Y89bn, while net sales were up 13% to Y172.6bn from Y152.7bn.

($1 = Y107)

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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