Petronas Chemicals net profit up 25.5% in first quarter
Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd’s (PCG) net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, (Q1’24) increased by 25.5% to RM668 million from RM532 million in Q1’23.
Revenue for the quarter slipped by 0.8% to RM7.5 billion from RM7.56 billion previously, partially offset by the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar.
PCG managing director and CEO Mazuin Ismail said the group is pleased to have progressed from last quarter, having stabilised its plant utilisation rates and production volume.
“Our diversified portfolio of products has worked in our favour as improvement in the olefins and derivatives (O&D) segment helped counter the decline in average product prices in our fertiliser and methanol (F&M) segment.
“Our specialities segment has significantly improved following higher sales volume and product margins,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He emphasised the importance of optimising production capacities across all segments, with five plants in both O&D and F&M segments scheduled for a statutory turnaround this year.
“Five of our plants in both O&D and F&M segments are scheduled to undergo statutory turnaround this year.
“In Q1’24, we completed the turnaround exercise in Petronas Chemicals Fertiliser Kedah Sdn Bhd as well as maintenance activities at several other plants,” Mazuin said.
On the market outlook, he said the group anticipates movement in product prices to be mixed moving into Q2’24, with some O&D products such as ethylene and aromatics showing improvement on supply limitation while others are relatively unchanged. – Bernama