Petronas Chemicals net profit up

Petronas Chemicals net profit up
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Charlotte Chong of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 23 August 2013 10:34

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd registered a net profit of RM958 million or 12 sen per share in its second quarter (2Q) ended June 30 (2QFY13), an increase of 12% from RM855 million in the previous corresponding period.

The integrated chemicals producer said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the higher profit in the quarter was due to the improved spreads mainly driven by lower feedstock.

Its revenue came in at RM3.87 billion, down 0.6% from RM3.9 billion on the lower average product prices, particularly in the fertiliser and methanol segment, despite the higher sales volume.

The board has declared a dividend of eight sen for the quarter.

For the six months ended June 30, the group posted a net profit of RM2 billion, an increase of 10% from RM1.9 billion a year ago on the back of higher product prices and lower feedstock costs, said the group.

Revenue stood at RM8.33 billion, a marginal increase from RM8.3 billion a year ago.

"The group recorded stronger operational performance with improved gas supply for the methanol facilities.

"However, there was higher level of maintenance activities during the period for olefins and derivatives segment," said PetChem.

The group said its operations are expected to be influenced by the fluctuations in prices of international petrochemical products, global economic conditions and utilisation rate of its production facilities.



This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on August 23, 2013.