[THE INVESTOR] South Korean refiners such as S-Oil Corp. have racked up decent profits in the first half of the year, driven by their better-than-expected sales and relatively high cracking margins, industry data showed Aug. 22.

According to data compiled by market researcher CEO Score, S-Oil, the country’s third-largest oil refiner, posted the highest operating income to sales ratio of 14.9 percent among companies affiliated with the top 30 conglomerates in terms of sales.

S-Oil logged an operating income of 1.13 trillion won (US$1billion) in the first half, up 34.1 percent from a year earlier, with its ratio of operating income to sales soaring 6 percentage points over the cited period, the data showed.

SK Innovation, the country’s top refiner, came in fourth in terms of the operating income-to-sales ratio with 9.4 percent, trailed by GS Caltex with a 9.3 percent ratio.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)