The four major subsidiaries of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, on Friday posted a combined profit of NT$62.26 billion (US$2.22 billion) for the third quarter, down 10.1 percent from a quarter earlier due to annual maintenance and a decrease in product spreads — the difference between raw material costs and product prices.
However, the quarter’s profits rose 24.99 percent from a year earlier due to rising oil prices, greater market demand — as many economies began to recover from the fallout of COVID-19 — and investment gains.
Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), FPG’s only unit that reported a quarterly increase in net profit in the third quarter, posted profit of NT$23.14 billion — the second-highest in its history — up 0.43 percent from a quarter earlier and a jump of 123 percent from a year earlier, a company regulatory filing said.
Photo: CNA
Earnings per share last quarter were NT$0.4, it said.
Nan Ya Plastics, whose portfolio includes printed circuit boards, electronic materials and plastic products, attributed the growth to robust demand for electronic materials used in the development of new energy vehicles, 5G applications, artificial intelligence technology and high-performance computing, it said.
Revenue from electronic materials increased 6.8 percent to NT$49.3 billion and accounted for 45 percent of the company’s third-quarter sales, while revenue from chemical materials increased 10.3 percent to NT$32 billion and accounted for 29 percent of quarterly sales, it said.
Nan Ya Plastic reported that its quarterly revenue increased 5.7 percent to NT$109.93 billion from a quarter earlier — a company record — with revenue rising 4.5 percent from operations in Taiwan, 6.4 percent in China and 10.6 percent in the US.
Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC, 台塑), the group’s flagship company, reported that its revenue declined 6.6 percent to NT$66.9 billion from a quarter earlier, as the price of its polyvinyl chloride products fell 14 percent due to lower demand in Asia amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a company regulatory filing said.
Last quarter, 11 of its factories were also closed for maintenance, compared with seven factories in the second quarter, it said.
FPC reported that net profit fell 4.5 percent to NT$19.32 billion, despite NT$6.8 billion in investment income, NT$3 billion in cash dividend income and NT$100 million in foreign-exchange income.
Earnings per share last quarter were NT$3.03, it said.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC, 台塑石化), the group’s oil refining subsidiary, reported that revenue increased 13.1 percent to NT$164 billion from a quarter earlier, as an increase in the price of Dubai crude oil boosted the company’s average product price by US$4.1 per barrel.
Revenue from its utility business increased 12.6 percent due to higher electricity prices over the summer, the company said.
However, the company reported that net profit fell 24.4 percent to NT$10.29 billion, as its refining business had lower inventory gains, its naphtha cracker was affected by lower product spreads and higher coal prices hit the bottom line of its utility business.
Earnings per share last quarter were NT$1.08, Formosa Petrochemical said.
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC, 台灣化纖), which manufactures integrated plastic and nylon products, reported that its net profit declined 23.2 percent to NT$9.52 billion from a quarter earlier, due to dropping revenue, while earnings per share were NT$1.63.
In the first three quarters, the four subsidiaries posted a combined net profit of NT$194.93 billion, an increase of 553.3 percent from the same period last year, led by Nan Ya Plastics’ NT$63.83 billion and FPC’s NT$54.51 billion.
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