Equate Group, a global petrochemical producer, has reported net profit of $435 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2018, up 41 per cent compared to the same period in 2017.

The company’s financial results (unaudited) also revealed EBITDA of $577 million, up by 22 per cent compared to Q1 2017, and net income after taxes (NIAT) of $425 million, up from $308 million in Q1 of 2017, said a statement.

These were the group’s best quarterly results since its inception. The Equate Group combines the Kuwait-based Equate Petrochemical Company and its subsidiaries MEGlobal, Equipolymers and The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC), it said.

Equate’s performance was driven by a robust polyethylene (PE) market demand in all regions, a sharp price increase in Monoethylene Glycol (MEG) due to tight global supply conditions and excellent operational reliability in Kuwait, Canada and Germany, it added.

Equate Group’s president and CEO Dr Ramesh Ramachandran said: “This remarkable achievement demonstrates the ability of Equate personnel across the globe to deliver operational excellence consistently.”

“We have been able to deliver on the cost and growth synergies identified after the MEGlobal acquisition, and our shared strategies on innovation and optimisation of the ethylene glycol plants enabled several operational breakthroughs in Q1,” he said.

“Our focus remains on safe and reliable operations as we head into the next quarter,” he added.

Equate’s construction on its new world-scale MEGlobal ethylene glycol plant in Oyster Creek, TX, remains on track, with completion expected in the 2nd half of 2019, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service