S-Oil Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter net profit more than quadrupled compared to a year earlier, driven by brisk sales of petrochemicals and lubricants.

In a regulatory filing, Korea’s No. 3 refiner posted 239.7 billion won ($227.7 million) in net profit for the April-June period, up 346.4 percent year-on-year.

Sales shot up 63.4 percent to top 8 trillion won for the same period, setting a record high. Operating profit came in at 241.8 billion won, up 13.3 percent.

A sharp increase in global demand for its petrochemicals and lubricants brought about the upbeat results, the refiner said in a statement. Sales of petrochemicals and lubricants topped 915 billion won and 596 billion won, respectively.

Its refining business, however, suffered an operating loss of 14 billion won, due to a government-induced fuel price cut in the local market. Sales stood at 6.5 trillion won.

The country’s four major refiners ― SK Innovation, GS Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai Oilbank ― slashed gas prices of gasoline and diesel by 100 won per liter between April and June amid a pan-government fight to contain inflation.

S-Oil’s earnings also let down investors expecting a fresh record high, as operating profit and net profit were less than half of the first-quarter figures.

S-Oil shares closed down 0.31 percent at 159,500 Thursday on the Korea Exchange.

Between January and June, total sales jumped more than 60 percent to 14.8 trillion won compared with a year before. Operating profit and net profit amounted to 889.3 billion won and 792.1 billion won, up 228 percent and 334 percent, respectively.

As for the second half, S-Oil forecast a slight drop in demand for oil products, but said the market will remain favorable.

(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)