MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd's (PCG) revenue decreased in 2019 to RM16.37 billion from RM19.58 billion previously, largely due to lower product prices partially offset by the weakening of the ringgit against US dollar, according to NewStraitsTimes with reference to a filing with Bursa Malaysia..
PCG recorded a lower net profit of RM2.81 billion for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019 from RM4.79 billion a year ago.
Basic earnings per share declined to 35 sen from 60 sen before.
The company has declared a second single tier interim dividend of seven sen per share, with its ex-date on March 12, 2020 and payable on March 27, 2020. Dividend payment for FY19 amounted to 18 sen against 32 sen in FY18.
PCG said its plant utilisation was at 92 per cent in FY19 which was comparable to the corresponding year. Consequently, production and sales volumes in FY19 were comparable with FY18.
"Overall average product prices were lower than the corresponding year in tandem with lower crude oil price and softer market demand," it said.
Moving forward, PCG said the results of the group’s operations were expected to be primarily influenced by global economic conditions, foreign exchange rate movements, 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.
"The utilisation of our production facilities is dependent on plant maintenance activities and sufficient availability of feedstock as well as utilities supply.
"The group will continue with its operational excellence programme and supplier relationship management to sustain plant utilisation level at above industry benchmark," it said.
PCG expects product prices to stabilise in the current quarter in view of supply limitation following planned regional plant turnarounds, supported by stable demand.
"However, we remain cautious amidst market uncertainties caused by the ongoing US-China trade disputes and the Covid-19 outbreak which could further dampen gross domestic product growth," it added.
As MRC wrote previously, in June 2019, Petronas and Saudi Aramco started operations at their new 1.2-million-tonnes-per-year naphtha cracker. The cracker is part of the USD2.7 billion joint-venture oil refinery and petrochemical project known as RAPID - or Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development - located in Pengerang in the state of Johor, at the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC