SEOUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - SK Innovation Co Ltd

, owner of South Korea's top refiner SK Energy, on

Friday said refining margins are expected to remain resilient in

the fourth quarter amid global supply disruptions and the onset

of the winter peak demand season.

The company posted an operating profit of 573 billion won

($403.10 million) for the July-September period, versus a 423

billion won loss a year earlier. That compared with an average

analyst forecast of 304 billion won profit.

Third-quarter revenue rose 16.3% to 20.5 trillion won from

the same period a year earlier.

SK On, which supplies batteries to Ford Motor Co,

Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor among others

widened its operating loss to 124.8 billion won in the third

quarter from 66.4 billion won loss in the previous quarter, hurt

by slowing EV battery shipments.

SK Innovation said in a statement that its battery unit's

third-quarter performance was hurt by lower battery sales,

affected by the phase-out of subsidies for battery-powered

vehicles in the United States.

In September, SK On signed a deal with U.S.-based Flatiron

Energy Development to supply lithium iron phosphate (LFP)

batteries for energy storage systems (ESS), marking its first

order for LFP batteries to use in ESS.

SK's deal echoes a trend among EV battery makers expanding

into energy storage as a hedge against slow EV battery demand.

SK On's cross-town rival LG Energy Solution on

Thursday said it expects U.S. EV battery sales to decline this

year from a year ago.

Shares in SK Innovation were trading up 0.2%, versus the

benchmark KOSPI's 0.3% rise, after the company's

earnings announcement.

($1 = 1,421.4800 won)