4Q Kind to Afton, SK Lubricants

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NewMarkets Afton Chemical additives subsidiary reported record operating profit and increased revenue during 2013s fourth quarter, while South Korean base oil refiner SK Lubricants posted increased operating income and revenue, compared to a year earlier.

Afton Chemical posted operating profit of $80 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, up 11.7 percent from $71.6 million in the year earlier period. For the full year 2013, Afton reported $375.3 million in operating profit, up just under 1 percent from 2012.

The petroleum additives segments revenue reached $554 million in the fourth quarter, up 8.4 percent from $511.2 million in 2012s fourth quarter. For the full year 2013, the segments revenue amounted to $2.3 billion, up from $2.2 billion for 2012.

Richmond, Va.-based NewMarket reported $54 million in net income or $4.08 per diluted share in the fourth quarter, up 1.7 percent from $53.1 million in net income or $3.94 per share, in the year-earlier period. For the full year 2013, NewMarkets net income reached $264.7 million, or $19.90 per diluted share, up 10.5 percent from $239.6 million, or $17.85 per share, for 2012.

These results reflect record operating performance by our petroleum additives segment, NewMarket President and CEO Thomas Gottwald said in the companys earnings release.

SK Lubricants reported operating income of 56.2 billion South Korean won (U.S. $51.9 million) for the fourth quarter, up from a 28.6 billion won operating loss in 2012s fourth quarter. For the full fiscal year, operating income reached 155.8 billion won in 2013, down 40.8 percent from 263 billion won for 2012.

Sales of 740.1 billion won for the fourth quarter were up 10.6 percent from the year-earlier period. For the full year 2013, SK Lubricants revenue reached about 2.8 trillion won, down slightly from 2.9 trillion won during 2012.

Parent company SK Innovation posted a 68.6 billion won operating profit for the fourth quarter on sales of just under 308 billion won.

In its earnings presentation, SK said base oil demand was expected to show gradual improvement with global economic recovery.

SK operates base oil refineries in Ulsan, South Korea, that have 40,000 b/d API Group II and Group II capacity, including a joint venture with JX Nippon Oil of Japan. The SK-Pertamina joint ventures base oil plant in Dumai, Indonesia, has 10,000 b/d Group III capacity. Later this year, the SK-Repsol joint venture base oil plant in Cartagena, Spain, is expected to bring an additional 12,000 b/d Group II and III capacity.

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