Energy trader Gunvor's 2023 net profit nearly halves
April 3 (Reuters) - Global energy trader Gunvor's net profit nearly halved in 2023, as the high price volatility seen across energy commodities abated versus the preceding year.
Like Gunvor, rivals including Vitol and Trafigura, had a bumper year in 2022 amid high price volatility and as Russia's war in Ukraine reshaped global commodity flows.
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However, in 2023, even as the Ukraine war persists, commodities markets faced new headwinds including a weaker-than- expected Chinese economy, monetary tightening, a stronger U.S. dollar, and an oil supply cut by OPEC+, Gunvor said on Wednesday.
The Geneva-based trader brought in about $1.25 billion in net profit after taxes last year, after posting a record $2.36 billion for 2022.
Last month, Gunvor agreed to pay some $662 million to resolve U.S. and Swiss investigations into payments to Ecuadorean officials to win business.
The U.S. government has imposed a string of steep fines against the world's top commodity traders over corruption, with others including Trafigura and Vitol also facing fines for similar charges.
Gunvor's 2023 net income result includes $467 million in provisions taken related to the settlement of the Ecuador case, along with other non-recurring expenses.
The firm, one of the world's largest oil traders, saw its revenue fall to $127 billion from $150 billion the previous year, reflecting a decline in commodities prices.
Rival Vitol, which posted its results in late March, reported a 20% drop in 2023 revenue to $400 billion from a year earlier.
"The very high price volatility across energy commodities in 2022 gradually decreased over 2023, and prices normalized, particularly in natural gas," Gunvor said in a statement.
Still, total trading volumes in 2023 increased to 177 million metric tons, up from 165 million tons in 2022, driven by the growth in staff and business lines, it added.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in London and Swati Verma in BengaluruEditing by Tomasz Janowski and David Evans)