Afton Chemical reported operating profit of $75.3 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, down 11.9 percent from $85.5 million in 2014s fourth quarter. The decrease was due to lower sales volume, changes in foreign currency exchange and increases in research and development investments, partially offset by lower raw material costs, parent company NewMarket Corp. of Richmond, Va., stated in its earnings report.

For the full year 2015, the petroleum additives segments operating profit totaled $374.9 million, down 2.6 percent from 2014. The company cited similar reasons for the year-to-year decline as it did for the quarterly results, adding, Changes in foreign currency overshadowed strong operating performance in the Americas and, to a lesser extent, the Asia-Pacific region.

Petroleum additives segment sales reached $476.7 million for the quarter, down 13 percent from $547.9 million. For the full year 2015, the segments revenue reached $2.1 billion, down 8.6 percent. The company attributed these decreases primarily to foreign currency exchange and changes in selling prices and mix. Lower shipments were also cited as a factor for the quarterly sales decrease, compared to a year earlier.

Parent company NewMarket reported $53.9 million in net income or $4.50 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter, up 3.5 percent from $52.1 million or $4.17 per diluted share

For the full year 2015, NewMarket posted $238.6 million in net income, or $19.45 per diluted share. Thats up 2.3 percent from $233.3 million in net income or $18.38 per diluted share for 2014.

S-Oil

S-Oils lube base oil segment reported fourth-quarter operating income of 67.9 billion won (U.S. $56.3 million), up 4 percent from 65.2 billion won in the year-earlier period. For the full year 2015, the segments operating income amounted to 316 billion won, up 22.6 percent from 257.8 billion won for 2014.

Fourth quarter revenue totaled 258.8 billion won, down 41.2 percent from 440.3 billion won. For all of 2015, sales topped 1.3 trillion won, down about 35 percent from almost 2 trillion won.

According to the quarterly earnings presentations 2015 outlook, demand growth for high-quality base oil products in the United States and Europe – attributed to stricter regulations for environmental preservation – is expected to be a firm pillar of a decent price spread in spite new base oil capacity additions.

S-Oils Onsan, South Korea, refinery has capacity to make 20,500 barrels per day of API Group III, 20,800 b/d of Group II and 500 b/d of Group I base oil.

BP

BPs Lubricants business reported an underlying replacement cost profit before interest and tax of $294 million in the fourth quarter, down 6.1 percent from $313 million in 2014s fourth quarter. The company reported almost $1.4 billion in such profit for full year 2015, up 7.7 percent from $1.3 billion in 2014.

The company said the result for the quarter reflects continued strong margins offset by adverse foreign exchange impacts.

The result for the full year reflects strong performance in growth markets and premium brands, and lower costs from simplification and efficiency programs, the company stated in its stock exchange announcement that summarized fourth quarter and full year results.