SK Innovation, South Korea’s top oil refiner, said Wednesday it posted its second best performance to date in 2015 thanks to high refining margins on the back of heightened global demand for oil products and reduced inventory losses.

The company logged an operating profit of 1.98 trillion won ($1.62 billion) and net sales of 48.36 trillion won last year, swinging to recovery after falling into the red for the first time in 2014.

Though its sales plunged by around 26.6 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year, its operating profit saw a sharp turnaround given improved market conditions, according to SK.


“The drop in global crude oil prices drove down our sales from the previous year. However, our operating profit improved immensely due to increased global demand for oil products and high refining margins,” SK Innovation said in a regulatory filing.

The refiner’s main petroleum business was at the center its profit turnaround last year, logging an operating profit of 1.3 trillion won thanks to lower inventory valuation losses and strong refining margins.

The firm’s chemicals business posted 431.3 billion won in 2015, up by 20.1 percent compared to 2014, on the back of favorable ethylene, paraxylene and benzene spreads and lower inventory related losses.

Its lubricant oil business logged an operating profit of 295 trillion won, similar to its performance in 2014, while its petroleum development business, directly related to falling oil prices, plunged to 62 billion won.

In line with its positive performance, SK Innovation said it will hand out record-high dividends to shareholders for the year 2015 at 4,800 won per share.

By Sohn Ji-young(jys@heraldcorp.com)