Petkim’s net profit soars almost 200 pct in first quarter

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Turkish petrochemicals company Petkim has announced its net profit increased by 195 percent in the first quarter to 146.47 million Turkish Liras compared to the same period of 2015, mainly due to a dramatic rise in domestic demand amid parity fluctuations and continuing restructuring works in Asian producers, which has temporarily decreased their output.

Petkim, a majority of whose stakes are owned by SOCAR, revealed that its sales increased by 18 percent to 1.1 billion liras in the first three months of the year compared to the same period of 2015, in a written statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) late April 28.

The company’s capacity use rate was announced 92.7 percent in the mentioned period. The figure was 87 percent last year.

“Many Asian petrochemicals manufacturers, which face serious profitability problems due to high raw material costs, have been in an intensive maintenance process. Local producers flocked to cargoes which can be immediately delivered in the first quarter of 2016 amid several fluctuations in foreign exchanges and continuing uncertainties in global petrochemicals industry. This was one of the leading developments in the domestic market,” said the company.