Prospect of SK Lubricants IPO Getting Dimmer

SEOUL, KOREA- SK Lubricants, one of the hopefuls for this year's IPO market, has seen its first-half net profit plunge, making it harder for the company to list its shares within the year's end. The SK Group company said on August 14 in a regulatory filing that it made a sales revenue of 1,407.4 billion won and an operating profit of 34.8 billion won for the first and second quarters. Its first-half sales revenue was 11 percent lower than the same period last year, with only a sixth of the operating profit from a year ago. Its net profit also fell to a level only a seventh of the first half in 2012.

SK Lubricants, a company 100-percent owned by SK Innovation and specializing in the manufacture and distribution of base and lubricant oils, has been preparing for an IPO since last year after selecting Samsung Securities and Korea Investment & Securities as underwriters. Estimated at more than 1 trillion won in subscription volume, it was considered one of the biggest deals for the year.

An SK Innovation official said, "The business of SK Lubricants has been slower than expected due to the global economic slowdown. We will keep watching the market conditions for IPO timing," suggesting that the company has not given up the hope of listing SK Lubricants shares.

Korea IT Times (info@koreaittimes.com) 다른기사 보기