MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) reported a 37.1 percent drop in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, hurt by a fall in sales prices of all its products and an increase in production costs, said Reuters.
Sipchem made a profit of 50.7 million riyals (USD13.5 million) in the three months to Mar. 31, down from 80.6 million riyals in the prior-year period, according to a bourse filing. The average estimate of analysts polled by Reuters was for a quarterly profit of 37.42 million riyals.
The mid-sized petrochemical company was, once more, hit by lower product sales prices: it had reported a halving of profits in the previous three quarters for this reason.
Product prices are closely linked to oil, so the lower crude price has reduced the margins and competitive advantage over rival manufacturers from non-oil producing regions which Saudi firms used to accrue due to their subsidised energy and feedstock.
Saudi Arabia is reforming its energy subsidies to help bring down a substantial budget deficit: Sipchem has previously announced it expects 120 million riyals of extra costs due to the move, and said on Tuesday it had negatively impacted its first-quarter earnings without quantifying it.
The firm also took a provision due to disposals and write-offs of equipment at its International Methanol Company affiliate, following a shutdown of the plant during the previous quarter to conduct planned maintenance.
As MRC informed earlier, Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) expects its costs to rise by 120 million Saudi Riyals (USD31.98 million) in 2016 due to higher variable overheads. The company is bracing for a financial impact due to higher energy prices and electricity tariffs, after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hiked its 2016 natural gas prices.
Established in 1999, Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) manufactures and markets methanol, butanediol, tetrahydrofuran, acetic acid, acetic anhydride, vinyl acetate monomer. Besides, it has launched several down-stream projects to manufacture ethylene vinyl acetate, low density polyethylene, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, cross linkable polyethylene, and semi conductive compound.
MRC