Gunvor First-Half Profit Halves as Energy-Trading Boom Slows

(Bloomberg) — Gunvor Group Ltd. posted its lowest first-half profit since 2021, the latest evidence of how margins for energy trading houses are coming off record highs.
Big energy traders are seeing their earnings begin to normalize after enjoying their most profitable period ever in recent years. The companies are now grappling with lower volatility in oil and gas prices, while logistical snags boost the cost of shipping commodities around the world.
Gunvor’s gas, power, liquefied natural gas and shipping businesses were the biggest profit contributors, the company said in results posted on the Euronext exchange. Oil “remained a solid contributor to the group’s profit despite much tougher trading conditions.” Refining margins were lower, weighing on profitability at the company’s Ingolstadt and Rotterdam sites. 
First-half profit was $417 million, down about 48% from a year earlier, Gunvor said. Group equity grew around 10% from the end of last year to $6.8 billion.
Gunvor said it is looking to grow its already sizable oil and gas trading business — with staff hires and more barrels traded. Oil and oil-product volumes grew by 42% year-on-year to a record 79 million tons, it said.
The trading house has been plowing some of its windfall earnings from the previous boom in into buying assets to shore up margins in leaner years. That includes a majority stake in a Spanish gas-fired power plant and half of Pakistan’s second-largest filling station network.
The company is also diversifying into other commodity markets like metals. Swedish billionaire Torbjörn Törnqvist owned 84.21% of Gunvor as of the end of 2023.
(Updates with additional details throughout.)
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