One of the biggest traders of crude oil and oil products, Gunvor Group Ltd, published today its final financial results for 2015. The company reported a visible increase in net profits after taxes, despite registering a decline in revenues.
The revenues of Gunvor when compared to 2014 slumped by 27 per cent or $24 billion to mark $64 billion. The decrease in operating revenues was due to the ongoing slump in oil prices with the price of crude oil throughout 2015 averaging about $50 per barrel.
Despite the decline in oil prices, the firm reported that its net profit after tax for 2015 totaled $1.25 billion, which is an increase of 10 per cent when compared to last year. The bottom line increase was also a function of the sale of Gunvor's majority stake in its Russian oil terminal, Ust-Luga.
The firm has managed to insulate itself from controversy related to the firm's ownership after its Russian co-founder Genadii Timchenko, who is allegedly connected to President Putin selling his share in the company to Gunvor's current CEO Torbjörn Törnqvist.
Commenting on the announcement, the majority shareholder of the company stated: “It is a credit to the company’s broadening management structure that Gunvor has emerged stronger over the past year, despite the challenges we’ve faced. We’ve seen an increase in volumes, an increase in earnings from trading, and continued geographic diversification. We’re very well positioned to operate in current market conditions.”
As Mr Törnqvist highlighted, trading volumes at the company have increased materially throughout the past year to reach 180 million tonnes which is an increase of 24 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The company's EBITDA also increased by about 14 per cent to $860 million from $752 million in 2014.
