State Trading Organization (STO) has announced its financial performance for the third quarter of 2026. The company reports posting a revenue of MVR 6.48 billion in the quarter.
In the nine months to September 2026, the state trader booked MVR 738 million in profit after tax. That is more than it earned in any of the past four full years. Profit over the latest twelve months reached MVR 1.08 billion, 42% above the 2025 total. On the headline numbers, this is the best run STO has recorded in years.
However, the company’s quarterly earnings is a 7% decline from the corresponding quarter last year.
The Maldives imports every liter it burns. In early March, after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, STO raised pump prices for the first time on that scale in recent memory: petrol went from MVR 13.50 to MVR 16.01 a liter and diesel from MVR 13.92 to MVR 17.54, effective March 5. It held prices for public transport, ferries, atoll fuel suppliers and fishermen under the Fahi Hakatha scheme.
STO attributes the decline of its revenue to the geopolitical tension and the war that the US and Israel launched on Iran constricting oil flow, as the major reason.
Though oil sale figures declined, the company saw growth in other segments.
In the review quarter, STO registered an operating profit of MVR 400 million, which is a 23.3% quarter-on-quarter increase, and a 37.7% year-on-year increment.
The corporation reports a profit before tax of MVR 352 million in the third quarter, despite a decline in gross profit; the increment in net profit is a 5% jump. It also reports a profit after tax of MVR 281 million, which is a moderate increase from the previous quarter.