KUALA LUMPUR – Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd’s (PetChem) net profit for its financial year ended December 31, 2020 slipped to RM1.62 billion from the RM2.81 billion recorded in the previous financial year.
Its revenue was also down to RM14.36 billion versus RM16.37 billion previously, while its basic earnings per share stood at 20 sen against 35 sen.
“The results of the group’s operations are expected to be primarily influenced by global economic conditions, petrochemical product prices which have a high correlation to crude oil prices, particularly for the olefins and derivatives segment, utilisation rate of our production facilities and foreign exchange rate movements.
“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to adversely affect the global economy and PetChem was also not spared,” it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
PetChem said it anticipates market recovery will continue providing stable demand for its products.
In a statement today, managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Sazali Hamzah said 2020 was an exceptionally challenging year.
“The impact of the OPEC+ fallout and the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in supply chain disruptions and dampened demand which caused a deep economic recession.
“Despite the abnormally tough environment, we delivered a positive set of results. We finished the year strongly, thanks to our unwavering focus on operational and commercial excellence, supported by the recovery moment in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020.”
Sazali noted that in the last quarter, petrochemical product prices recovered further on improved crude oil prices coupled with demand growth fuelled by an optimistic economic outlook.
For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020, PetChem’s net profit rose to RM466 million compared to RM340 million year-on-year, while revenue shed to RM3.84 billion from RM4.23 billion.
Meanwhile, the company declared a second interim single tier dividend of 7 sen per ordinary share, amounting to RM560 million for the financial year ended December 31, 2020.
The dividend is payable on March 25 to registered depositors at the close of business on March 11, 2021.
PetChem’s share price was at RM7.55 unchanged on Bursa Malaysia at 2.20pm today. – Bernama, February 23, 2021
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