Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), Asia’s second-biggest maker of polyvinyl chloride, posted a 42 percent gain in second-quarter profit on higher prices driven by Chinese demand and earnings contributed by a refining affiliate.
Net income climbed to NT$13.3 billion (US$423 million) in the three months ended June 30 from NT$9.33 billion a year earlier. That’s higher than the NT$10.5 billion median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of three analysts.
The figure was derived by deducting first-quarter profit from six-month earnings the company announced yesterday.
Operating profit climbed to NT$8.7 billion in the first half from NT$8.38 billion a year earlier, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. Non-operating income rose to NT$13.5 billion from NT$11.9 billion.
“A big boost to Formosa Plastics’ profit was contribution from Formosa Petrochemical, which reported strong earnings because of exports, especially those to China,” said Huang Lan-ying, a Taipei-based analyst at Capital Securities Corp (群益證券).
Huang has a “hold” rating on Formosa Plastics’ shares.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), Taiwan’s only publicly traded oil refiner, last week reported a 22 percent gain in second-quarter profit.
Formosa Plastics fell 0.8 percent to NT$60.2 in Taipei trading before the earnings announcement. The stock has dropped 34 percent this year, compared with a 17 percent decline in the TAIEX.
First-half net income climbed 21 percent to NT$20.2 billion, or NT$3.54 per share, the company said in an e-mail yesterday.
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