Japan’s Idemitsu’s H1 net income up 37.2%

04 November 2008 08:24  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan's first-half net income increased by 37.2% to yen (Y) 18.9bn ($190.9m), up from Y13.8bn the previous year, with high profits in the oil exploration and production segment due to the rise in crude oil prices, the company said on Tuesday.

The company’s consolidated net sales in the six months ended 30 September touched Y2,280.4bn, up 34.3% from a year before, the company added.

In the petrochemicals segment, first-half net sales increased by 8.7% to Y380.7bn, with naphtha prices rising sharply due to the record high crude oil prices, Idemitsu said.

However, market prices of styrene monomer (SM) and paraxylene (PX) did not rise in proportion to the sharp rise in feedstock costs, the firm added.

Idemitsu did not revise its forecast for the full 2008 fiscal year ending 31 March 2009.

The company said that making a business forecast for the second-half at this point in time might mislead investors due to the fluctuating prices of petroleum and petrochemical products.

Idemitsu said it planned to announce revised forecasts "as soon as possible after carefully assessing the environmental changes and the economic trend".

($1 = Y99)

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By: Tomomi Yokomura
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