South Koreas SK Lubricants revenue rose marginally in 2014, but its operating profit shot up dramatically from 2013. Indias Gulf Oil Lubricants also made improvements year-over-year in the quarter ending Dec. 31.
SK Lubricants 2014 revenue was just short of 3 trillion won (U.S. $ 2.7 billion), a 7.1 percent increase. The Seoul, South Korea-headquartered base oil and lubricant producers operating profit surged 87 percent from 2013 to around 290 billion won.
As for the fourth quarter of 2014, SK recorded an operating profit of 71.4 billion won, a 27 percent uptick from the same period the previous year.Its quarterly revenue was 799 billion won, up 7.9 percent fromthe fourth quarter of 2013.
Helped by the growth in demandfor high-quality base oil, our lubricants operation continued steady recovery in thefiscal year ended Dec. 31, saidSK Lubricants parent company, SK Innovation, in its written statement last week.
On the outlook for 2015, SK said it expects the market for Group III base oil to grow gradually due torising demand.
Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd. reported its fiscal third quarter results last week, listing net revenue of Rs 243 crores (2.4 billion rupees, or U.S. $39.2 million). The outcome was a 13 percent gain from Rs 215 crores in the same period of 2013.
For its quarter ended Dec. 31, the Hyderabad-based lubes producer reported net profit of Rs 1,824 lakhs (Rs 182.4 million), and total expenses of Rs 21,169 lakhs, both minor improvements from last years third quarter results of Rs 1,803 lakhs and Rs 21,812 lakhs, respectively.
Gulf Oil Lubricants said its partnership with Mahindra & Mahindra tractors is allowing it to make inroads in the countrys tractor segment.
In its earnings report, the company also highlighted its growth in the commercial vehicle segment and personal mobility segments, which include motorcycles and passenger cars.
The company listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange on July 31, 2014, upon demerger from Gulf Oil Corp. Ltd.
Gulf said it is focusing on rural areas of India, noting that it believes that semi-urban and rural markets hold immense opportunities and are outpacing growth of urban markets, especially in the automotive sector.