Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, saw its overall revenues and profits decline last quarter from three months earlier, as a major unit went through annual maintenance, resulting in lowered capacity.
The group’s revenues totaled NT$319.4 billion (US$10.1 billion) during the July-to-September period, down 4.7 percent from the previous quarter, Formosa Plastics Group data showed.
Net income decreased 10.9 percent from the previous quarter to NT$51.4 billion.
The decline came mainly because Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) registered declines on a quarterly basis, more than offsetting increased profits at three other units.
Formosa Petrochemical, the nation’s only listed oil refiner, saw net profits drop 35.4 percent to NT$16.7 billion, with combined revenues down by 8.9 percent to NT$128.5 billion.
“The decline in net profits was due to regular maintenance,” company president Tsao Mihn (曹明) said yesterday.
The utilization rate of Formosa Petrochemical’s olefin plants stood at 79 percent last quarter, compared with 99 percent in the second quarter, Tsao said.
The situation would improve as demand for gasoline and diesel is expected to grow toward the end of this year, Tsao said.
Other units fared better.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維), which produces aromatics and styrenics, saw its net profits increase 12.4 percent to NT$14.9 billion from the previous quarter.
The company’s combined revenues for last quarter decreased 1.6 percent on a quarterly basis to NT$79.9 billion.
“The improvement in net profits was supported by non-operating gains of NT$44.1 billion last quarter,” Formosa Chemicals vice chairman Hong Fu-yuan (洪福源) told reporters.
As for the Changhua plant, Hong said that the company is to file an administrative remedy for the failed license application.
The Changhua plant, which produces nylon and rayon, has been shut down after the government last month rejected its license renewal application for its power generators.
Formosa Chemicals is also seeking compensation for the losses sustained during the plant’s closure, Hong said, adding that the loss is expected to reach about NT$1.5 billion per month.
Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), the nation’s largest producer of polyvinyl chloride, reported net profits of NT$11.4 billion for last quarter, up 11.4 percent from the previous quarter.
Revenue during the same period decreased 5.9 percent from the previous quarter to NT$42.1 billion, company data showed.
The company is optimistic about sales for the current quarter, supported by its successful strategy to expand its business to Southeast Asia, Formosa Plastics Corp president Jason Lin (林健男) told reporters.
Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), the nation’s largest plastics maker, registered net profit of NT$8.4 billion, up 0.8 percent from a quarter earlier, with revenue increasing 1 percent to NT$68.9 billion, driven by the rising demand for copper-clad laminates.
“The sales in the current quarter might be flat compared with last quarter, due to the high raw material prices, ” Nan Ya Plastics chairman Wu Chia-chau (吳嘉昭) said.
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