Vietnam refinery operator suffers heavy loss in Q3

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical JSC (BSR), the operator of Vietnam’s first oil refinery Dung Quat, incurred a net loss of VND1.21 trillion ($47.74 million) in Q3/2024, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of dim earnings.

This is BSR's first quarterly loss in the past four years.

In its freshly released financial statement, the company, traded on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) as BSR, reported Q3 revenue of VND31.95 trillion ($1.26 billion), a decrease of 15.6% compared to the same period last year. Due to overweighted operating costs, it recorded a gross loss of VND1.47 trillion.

Its financial revenue increased by 32% to VND554 billion ($21.86 million), while financial, sale, and management expenses fell.

In the first nine months, BSR posted revenue of VND87.06 trillion ($3.43 billion), down 17.5% year-on-year, and an after-tax profit of VND674 billion ($26.59 million), down 89% against the same period last year.

Dim prospects

The last time BSR posted losses was in Q1 and Q2 of 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic just broke out, pushing the global oil sector into a crisis, characterized by decreased demand, high inventory, and a sharp drop in oil prices.

According to the firm, a recent decrease in global oil prices from an average of $85.31 per barrel in July to $74.33 in September has led to a narrower crack spread, which in turn resulted in a significant reduction in the company's profit.

Hanoi-based KB Securities (KBSV) reckoned that since the beginning of Q3, the crack spreads for diesel, RON95, RON92, and Jet A1 in Asia have dropped by 44%, 24%, 48%, and 42%, respectively.

The crack spreads for 2024 are much narrower than in the same period last year, mainly due to sluggish consumption in the Chinese market, which has kept Asian inventories high during the peak season at the end of the year.

As the year is coming to an end, KBSV noted that there are no significant drivers to reverse the situation for the oil market in the region. The outlook on major economies like the U.S. and China is becoming dimmer.

Regarding supply, the OPEC+ has agreed to postpone its planned production increase until the end of November to support falling oil prices. However, the easing political instability in Libya has alleviated concerns over supply shortages, putting downward pressure on crude oil prices in the short term.

As a result, BSR may need to set aside provisions for inventory devaluation in the second half of the year. As of September 30, its inventory had reached VND17.95 trillion ($708.23 million), an increase of over VND2.1 trillion since the year beginning.

The company has set aside VND290 billion ($11.44 million) for inventory devaluation provisions, a significant increase from VND123.7 billion at the start of the year.

In the stock market, BSR closed Thursday at VND21,000 ($0.83) per share.