In the third quarter of 2021, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd. posted nosedived results on the back of a lower gross profit margin due to higher feedstock costs.
Net profit plunged by 87.2% sequentially to MYR48.84 million (USD11.7 million) which sent earnings per share (EPS) dipped to 2.14 sen from 16.8 sen.
Quarterly revenue decreased by 12% quarter-to-quarter but rose by 15.2% year-on-year to MYR2.24 billion (USD539.6 million) from MYR2.54 billion. The quarterly slip was highly affected by the weaker average product selling prices and demand while the annual climb was against the backdrop of the climb of average product selling prices.
Annually, net profit slipped by 38% from MYR78.77 million (USD18.97 million) mainly due to the deferred tax expenses. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) dropped by 14.19% to MYR239.8 million (USD57.76 million).
Profit before tax expanded by 51% to MYR98.4 million (USD23.7 million), driven by the profit from a share of results of its associated company, Lotte Chemical USA Corp.
In the July-September period, the average plant utilization rate was at 76%, down from 90% a year ago as the company commenced statutory turnaround carried out for two plants in Malaysia.
For the first nine months of the year, the group scored a net profit of MYR871 million (USD209.8 million) compared to the net loss of MYR2.57 million in the corresponding time of 2020. Revenue gained 43.54% year-or-year to MYR7.15 billion (USD1.7 billion).
Looking forward, the group is cautious as it estimated some elements of volatility to remain for the petrochemical sector amid the continuation and effectiveness of vaccination as well as the pace of economic reopening, globally and domestically.
