(Bloomberg) — Gunvor Group Ltd. reported its lowest half-year profit since 2021, the latest evidence that energy trading firms’ margins are slipping from record highs.

Profits at major energy traders are gradually normalising after enjoying the most profitable period in their history in recent years. The companies are now grappling with less volatility in oil and gas prices, while logistical problems are driving up the cost of transporting commodities around the world.

Gunvor’s gas, power, liquefied natural gas and shipping divisions contributed the most to profits, the company said in its results published on the Euronext stock exchange. Oil “remained a solid contributor to the group’s profits despite significantly more difficult trading conditions.” Refining margins were lower, weighing on the profitability of the company’s sites in Ingolstadt and Rotterdam.

Profit in the first half of the year was $417 million, around 48 percent less than in the previous year, Gunvor said. The group’s equity has risen by around 10 percent to $6.8 billion since the end of last year.

Gunvor plans to further expand its already substantial oil and gas business by hiring new employees and trading more barrels. Oil and oil product volumes rose by 42 percent year-on-year to a record 79 million tons, it said.

The trading house is investing some of its extra revenue from the previous boom in buying assets to shore up margins in lean years. These include a majority stake in a Spanish gas-fired power plant and half of Pakistan’s second-largest network of petrol stations.

The company is also diversifying into other commodity markets such as metals. Swedish billionaire Torbjörn Törnqvist owned 84.21% of Gunvor at the end of 2023.

(Updated throughout with additional details.)

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