Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah
Kuwait's QPIC posts 9M net profit of $16.6m
KUWAIT CITY, February 1, 2022
Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) has posted a net profit of KD5.03 million ($16.6 million) for the nine months (9M) period ending December 31, 2021, compared to KD7.61 million for the same period last year.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the three quarters stood at 4.92 fils, compared to 7.45 fils during the same period last year.
Consolidated gross profit decreased 17% to reach KD47.32 million from KD 57.04 million reported for the same period last year owing to the decline in revenues from subsidiaries.
As of December 31, 2021, total consolidated assets stood at KD779.93 million, compared to KD759.39 million reported at the end of the previous financial year (March 31, 2021), showing a marginal increase mainly due to the acquisition of a 29.5% equity stake in Advanced Technology Company (Associate Company).
Commenting on the results, QPIC’s Chairman, Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, said: “The achieved results affirm the ability of QPIC’s diversified business model to withstand the different challenges that the global health and economic crisis has imposed. We have already started to see signs of gradual recovery and improvements across the different sectors we operate in; where petrochemical markets have continued showing strong recovery since the beginning of 2021. In the meantime, we continue to look for new opportunities that will further enhance the balance of our portfolio and maximize our shareholders’ interests.”
QPIC’s Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sadoun Ali, said: “The anticipated business environment slowdown that has negatively affected the performance of our group companies operating within the food industries, logistics and oil and gas services sectors was partially offset by the remarkable performance and recovery of Petrochemical markets that continued the positive momentum since the beginning of 2021 and overcompensated the weaker performance of 2020.
“Kuwait Aromatics (Karo) posted net profits of $30 million for 9M of the year versus net losses of $3 million during the same period last year. Equate Group also continued the strong performance throughout the year and we expect that to be positively rewarding on our yearend.
“Finally, we look forward to enhance our future performance in 2022, but that mainly relies on the expected relief of the onset pandemic and revival of the business environment.” -- TradeArabia News Service