Energy Trader Gunvor Made Record $2.4 Billion Profit in 2022

(Bloomberg) -- Gunvor Group Ltd.’s net profit more than trebled last year to a record $2.36 billion, making it the latest commodity trading house to post stellar earnings amid extreme volatility in prices for raw materials.

The company, led by billionaire co-founder Torbjorn Tornqvist, maintained a “restrictive dividend policy” and increased its equity by 72% over the course of the year to $5.29 billion, it said in annual results released on the Euronext exchange Wednesday.

Russia’s war in Ukraine and subsequent sanctions from western governments have upended trading in energy and commodities markets. Traders including Gunvor, Trafigura Group, Vitol Group and Mercuria Energy Group have reaped record profits, capitalizing on arbitrage opportunities as prices for some goods spiked to unprecedented levels. 

“This unique economic and market situation benefited commodities traders,” Gunvor said in its results.

Still, the industry was buffeted by margin calls from banks and brokers asking for more collateral. Gunvor, a major trader of oil and liquefied natural gas, saw its trading volumes drop 31% to 165 million tons during the year, as it curbed spot trading in European natural gas and crude oil.

The company’s results include a $200 million provision “related to the current investigation by the US Department of Justice in connection with transactions in Ecuador.” That’s in addition to a total $501 million impairment on its Ust-Luga oil terminal in Russia and a recently-sold refinery in Antwerp.

Also See: Commodity Traders Warn Mega Profits Probably Won’t Be Repeated

(Updates with additional information and context throughout.)

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