LONDON: Commodities trader Trafigura smashed its previous profit records to make around US$3.5bil (RM15.8bil) in the first quarter of its current financial year, four sources with knowledge of the matter said, benefitting from volatile energy prices.
The Geneva-based company does not publish quarterly figures but provides half-year and full-year reports. A spokesperson for Trafigura declined to comment.
The exceptional returns were driven by global energy shortages, stemming in part from sweeping sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and underlying tightness in global energy markets due to underinvestment in new developments.
Extreme market dislocations and soaring prices, particularly in natural gas and liquefied natural gas, have proved a boon for major commodity trading houses.
The company’s results in the first quarter that started on Oct 1 are already half of its net profit of US$7bil (RM31.6bil) during its previous full financial year and are 30% more than in the first half of its financial year 2022.
Trafigura, the second-biggest independent oil trader after Vitol, moved 6.6 million barrels per day of crude and refined products last year and 13 million tonnes of LNG. — Reuters
