Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC) reported a net profit of QAR57 million ($15.65 million) for the first quarter of 2020, down significantly by 83% from the same quarter last year and by 88% from the fourth quarter of 2019. MPHC generated total revenues of QAR516 million ($141.67 million) declining by 36% from a year earlier, and by 24% from the previous quarter.
MPHC attributed the decline to the worsening global macroeconomic climate, slowing GDP growth, economic uncertainty, trade tensions, and volatile oil prices caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors contributed to lower demand for MPHC products, which in turn, caused a 18% year-on-year decline in selling prices.
MPHC’s earnings per share fell to QAR0.005 in the first quarter from QAR0.026 a year earlier. During the reporting period, maintenance shutdowns caused a decline in production volumes which lowered sales volumes by 22% year-on-year to 227,000 tons.
MPHC expected that the impact of the oil price crash and the coronavirus pandemic would be fully reflected in its second-quarter earnings report. With such a sluggish outlook, MPHC has initiated several measures to optimize operating expenditures across all segments. The company is also reviewing potential delays in its capital expenditure programs.
