South Korean lubricants blender Michang Petroleum reported a 138% jump in net profit in 2023, despite a slight decrease in sales revenue. In the fourth quarter, net profit also surged by 139%.
Michang reported net profit of ₩49.7 billion (U.S. $37.3 million) for 2023, improving from ₩20.9 million in 2022. Sales for the full year decreased 2% to ₩409.2 billion, compared with $418.8 billion.
In the fourth quarter, the company’s net profit jumped to ₩38.1 billion, improving from $16 billion in the same period in 2022. Sales declined to ₩101.8 billion, compared to ₩112 billion.
The company breaks out performance for products by kiloliters sold and sales revenue for the full year. In 2023, Michang sold a total of 172,142 kL (155,000 metric tons) of lubricants, 7% less than 184,833 kL.
In its full-year product sales breakdown, the company said its lubricant sales of ₩311.9 billion were up 1%.
The total for last year included of lubricant exports of 105,551 kL, a decline of 8%. Lubricant export sales in 2023 were valued at ₩165.5 billion, a 4% increase.
Domestic consumption of Michang’s lubricants decreased 5% to 66,591 kL. The company’s domestic lubricant sales rose 7% to ₩146.4 billion, compared to ₩136.8 billion. A possible factor in the higher sales despite lower sales volume may have been Michang’s 4% decline in overall cost of sales for the year, to ₩347.4 billion.
Michang makes automotive lubricants, transformer oils, white oils, rubber process oils and fuel additives at its plant in Ulsan. Its plant in Busan manufactures the same products – except for fuel additives – along with marine lubricants.