Japan's Idemitsu books 41-B ($263-MM) yen loss on Vietnam's refinery in 2023/24
TOKYO (Reuters)—Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan said on Tuesday it booked a 41.1-B yen ($263 MM) provision for bad debt related to the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical in Vietnam for the year ended March 31 due to heavy costs from rising U.S. interest rates.
Idemitsu, which owns a 35.1% stake in Nghi Son, expects the facility to turn profitable on a net earnings basis in the 2025 financial year, it said, adding that the refinery, Vietnam's largest, plans to boost its run rate by 15% to 20% this year.
"NSRP's operating profit has been improving," Idemitsu President Shunichi Kito said. "We are continuing constructive discussions with other sponsors of NSRP on its financial restructuring, or measures to better deal with high interest rates," he said after an earnings news conference, without elaborating.
Nghi Son is one of two oil refineries in Vietnam, which meet around 70% of the country's needs for refined petroleum products. It is owned by Kuwait Petroleum (35.1%), Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam (25.1%) and Mitsui Chemicals (4.7%).
For the year ended March 31, Idemitsu reported a 9.9% fall in net profit to 228.5 B yen in the year ended March 31 due to slumping prices of thermal coal and a hefty one-off loss, and forecast a 45.3% drop in the year to next March.
($1 = 156.3400 yen)
Comments