Kuwait-based Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) has registered a net profit of KD28.23 million ($91.37 million) for the financial year 2019-2020, compared to KD45.33 million ($146.72 million) for the previous year.
Announcing the results for the financial year ended March 31, 2020, QPIC said the Earnings per share (EPS) for the year 2019-20 came to 27.45 fils ($88.85 cents) versus 43.64 fils ($141.25 cents), last year.
The company’s consolidated gross profit increased 20 per cent to reach KD75.90 million ($245.67 million) from KD63.48 million ($205.46 million) reported for the same period last year, owing to the increase in sales revenues during the period and the positive impact of the consolidation of JTC.
Total assets stood at KD779.42 million ($2.52 billion) as at 31 March 2020, compared to KD731.13 million ($2.37 billion) on March 31, 2019, representing a 7 per cent increase, due to the recent acquisition of Jassim Transport & Stevedoring Company (JTC).
QPIC’s Board of Directors (BoD) is recommending the distribution of a cash dividend of 16 per cent (16 fils per share), subject to approval by the company's General Assembly and regulatory authorities, the company said in a statement.
Commenting on the results, QPIC’s Chairman, Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, said: “The lower announced results mainly attributed to the sharp drop witnessed in petrochemical markets and product prices during the fiscal year from the exceptional peaks it reached the previous year and especially with having around 43 per cent exposure to petrochemicals within our investment portfolio. However, it’s worth mentioning that QPIC well-balanced portfolio and the sound diversification strategy we had adopted back in 2012 with the aim of diversifying our sources of income and mitigate risk have significantly contributed to stabilize our results. We aim to continue to seize new opportunities that will enhance the balance of our portfolio and maximize our shareholders’ interests.”
QPIC’s Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sadoun Ali, said: “The results are in line with our expectations. The numbers are supported by our diversified investment portfolio that withstood the sharp drop in the petrochemical markets which was positively offset by the remarkable positive performance of our subsidiary, Saudi Dairy & Foodstuff Company (Sadafco) that registered around 22 per cent increase in net profits compared to the previous year. This is in addition to the healthy performance of the remainder of QPIC’s balanced portfolio, especially our most recent acquisition of the new subsidiary, JTC. We look forward to maintaining the same level of performance in the year 2021. Our performance in the upcoming financial year will mainly rely on two factors, namely the improvement of oil and petrochemical prices and the duration of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, impacting the speed of recovery of the regional and global markets.”--TradeArabia News Service