Ashlands Valvoline division reported higher sales but a drop in operating income for the quarter ending Sept. 30, while SK Lubricants and Quaker Chemical reported rises in operating income and sales, compared to year-earlier numbers.
Valvoline
According to parent company Ashland, Valvoline posted operating income of $52 million for the three months ending Sept. 30 (the fourth quarter of Ashlands fiscal year), down 27.8 percent from $72 million in the same period a year earlier. Valvolines sales and operating revenues for the quarter hit $462 million, up 11.6 percent from a year earlier.
Total lubricant volume was 44.2 million gallons for the quarter, up 4 percent from the same period in 2009. Sales growth was strongest in the do-it-yourself and international market channels at 16 and 14 percent, respectively, compared to the same quarter in 2009. Valvoline Instant Oil Change also contributed to sales growth, with same-store sales increasing 10 percent in the quarter, compared to a year earlier.
For its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, Valvoline had operating income of $262 million, up 4 percent from $252 million for fiscal year 2009. Valvolines sales and operating revenue for 2010 edged up 6 percent to $1.8 billion, compared to the previous year.
Covington, Ky.-based Ashland as a whole had operating income of $106 million on revenues of $2.4 billion in the quarter. For the fiscal year, Ashlands net income totaled $566 million on $9 billion in revenues.
SK Lubricants
SK Lubricants reported 112.8 billion South Korean won (U.S. $99.9 million) in operating profit for the quarter ending Sept. 30, up 148 percent from the year-earlier period. Sales for SK Lubricants reached 584.4 billion won, up 51 percent from 386.4 billion won in 2009s third quarter.
A rise in base oil price and sales volumes, along with continued supply tightness in the United States and European Union, led to the earnings hike, SK said in its earnings presentation.
The company, formerly SK Energys lubricants division, was spun off into a new, wholly-owned business in October 2009.
SK operates a 21,000 barrel per day base oil refinery in Ulsan, South Korea, with API Group II and III production. The SK-Pertamina joint venture plant in Dumai, Indonesia, which is 65 percent owned by SK, has about 7,000 b/d of Group III capacity.
Quaker Chemical
Operating income for Quaker Chemical reached $9.4 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30, up 10 percent from $8.6 million in 2009s third quarter. Conshohocken, Pa.-headquartered Quaker recorded $137.7 million in net sales in the third quarter, up almost 16 percent from $118.9 million in the year earlier period.
Our third quarter results remained strong with volumes close to second-quarter levels despite seasonal slowdowns in Europe and increasing raw material costs, said Michael Barry, Quakers chairman, CEO and president.