PETALING JAYA: Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) reported a net profit of RM802 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, a 24.7% reduction against RM1.07 billion recorded in the same period last year, attributed to lower product prices and sales volumes as well as higher operating expenditure relating to maintenance activities.
Its revenue also declined 16.6% to RM4.13 billion from RM4.95 billion.
According to PetChem’s filing with Bursa Malaysia, the group recorded a lower plant utilisation of 95% in the quarter compared to full utilisation in the corresponding quarter, mainly due to higher level of maintenance and statutory turnaround activities at its methanol and aromatics plants respectively.
Moving forward, the group expects its operations to be influenced by global economic conditions, foreign exchange rate movements, the utilisation rate of its production facilities and petrochemical products prices, which have a high correlation to crude oil price, particularly for the olefins and derivatives segment.
PetChem anticipates the olefins and derivatives segment to remain comparable in the coming quarter in view of sufficient supply, supported by stable end products demand with the upcoming festive season.
It takes a similar outlook with regards to its fertiliser and methanol segment as supply resumes after plant turnarounds coupled with existing demand from the end products segments.
“There are also two new methanol-to-olefins plants expected to start up in the next quarter,” it added.
At the midday break, PetChem’s share price gained 19 sen or 2.2% to RM8.82 on 1.12 million shares done.
