World Kinect Bunker Operations Return to Profit in Q3

The firm's marine margin was $1.16/mt, compared to -$6.62/mt  in Q2 and $3.77/mt a year earlier. Image Credit: Ship & Bunker / Data Credit: World Kinect

World Kinect – one of the world's largest  bunker suppliers, also known as World Fuel Services – saw a return to profit from marine fuels in Q3 as delivered volumes rose.

World Kinect sold 4.1 million mt of bunker fuel in Q3 2025, up by 2.7% on the year and by 5.0% from Q2.

The firm reported income from marine operations of $4.7 million in Q3, it said in its latest earnings release. This follows a loss of $25.6 million in Q2 - its first quarterly loss from this segment since Q4 2017 - and was down from a $14.9 million profit in Q3 2024.

Gross profit from the marine segment was $25.2 million in Q3, down from $37.2 million a year earlier.

The firm's marine margin was $1.16/mt, compared to -$6.62/mt  in Q2 and $3.77/mt a year earlier.

World Kinect is the new name for the firm's overall holding company, but it remains known as World Fuel Services in its market operations.

The firm has appointed Ira Birns - formerly CFO - as its new CEO as of January 1, 2026. Birns's predecessor in the role, Michael Kasbar, has been appointed executive chairman of the board as of the same date.

Analyst Call

"Marine faced a challenging quarter amid lower bunker prices and low volatility, but we see strong opportunities for greater cash generation when market conditions shift," Kasbar said in a call with analysts.

The firm's incoming CEO cited weakness in some geographical areas of the bunker market as being behind the marine segment's year-on-year drop in profitability.

"This decline is principally due to lower profit contributions from certain physical locations as well as lower margins driven by low market volatility and a lower fuel price environment," Birns said.

"As we have consistently communicated over the years, the spot nature of our Marine business closely aligns performance with pricing environments and market volatility levels.

"While periods of lower prices and reduced volatility can impact profitability as they certainly did this quarter, since Marine operates with modest capital requirements, we generally generate cash in marine across cycles.

"We also remain focused on further strengthening the segment's resilience during cyclical troughs while positioning Marine to best benefit when prices and volatility increase."

Profits from the marine segment are likely to be higher than in the third quarter in the final three months of the year, but remain lower than in the same period of 2024, Birns added.

"While we anticipate some sequential improvement in our results for Marine in the fourth quarter, with market volatility and prices expected to remain low through the fourth quarter, we expect marine gross profit to decline year-over-year in Q4," he said.