(LEAD) Korea Electric Power shifts to Q2 profit on low fuel

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SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Yonhap) -- Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), South Korea's state-run utility, said Thursday it shifted to a net profit in the second quarter from a year earlier on decreased fuel costs.

For the three months that ended on June 30, KEPCO swung to a net profit of 202.85 billion won from a net loss of 412.18 billion won in the same period of last year, the company said in a statement.

"Lower oil prices drove down liquefied natural gas and coal prices in the second quarter. As a result, the company's purchasing costs of LNG and coal decreased, giving a boost to the bottom line," a company spokesman said over the phone.

KEPCO also shifted to an operating profit of 389.81 billion won in the second quarter from an operating loss of 298.66 billion won a year ago. Sales remained unchanged at 13.07 trillion won during the same period.

From January to June, KEPCO swung to a net profit of 256.46 billion won from a net loss of 1.17 trillion won in the year-ago period.

The turnaround was helped by decreased fuel costs. Fuel purchasing prices fell to 15.8 trillion won in the first half of 2020 from 18.7 trillion won a year earlier.

The state utility also shifted to an operating profit of 820.36 billion won in the first half from an operating loss of 928.54 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 0.5 percent to 28.17 trillion won from 28.32 trillion won.
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