LOTTE POSTS LOWER EARNINGS, REVENUE FOR FY20

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 -- Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd posted a lower net profit of RM148.59 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY20) from RM439.73 million a year earlier mainly due to higher losses from associates.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the company said higher losses from associates was mainly due to lower profit margin in FY20 and the one-off gain on disposal of equity interest in a joint venture operation in 2019. 

Lotte’s revenue also fell to RM6.9 billion from RM8.44 billion year-on-year due to a decrease in average product selling price and sales volume amid poor business sentiment and weakened demand especially during the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in early 2020.

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“Apart from the pandemic outbreak, reduction in production quantity resulting from the major statutory plant turnaround conducted in the first half of 2020 has also led to the decrease in sales volume,” it said. 

Overall plant utilisation decreased to 82 per cent from 88 per cent due to the major statutory plant turnaround, it added. 

Moving forward, Lotte said key risk was likely to remain amid aggravation of the COVID-19 pandemic, with crude oil demand particularly susceptible to lockdown measures and reduced mobility.

It added that the results of its operations for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2021 were expected to be primarily influenced by several factors including supply balance of petrochemical products in the market and its ability to maximise production outputs and operational efficiency.

Amidst the external challenges, the company said it would continue to monitor closely on the pandemic development as the petrochemical industry correlates with and is heavily dependent on the regional and global economic growth and aggregate consumption pattern.

“Notwithstanding the external circumstances, the company will continue to maintain its strong financial resilience and optimise its operations to ride through the challenging business environment,” said Lotte. 

-- BERNAMA