SEOUL, Kumho Petro Chemical Co. said Monday its fourth-quarter net income tumbled 44.7 percent from a year earlier due to waning global demand for petrochemical products.
Its net profit stood at 82.5 billion won (US$61.8 million), compared with 149.1 billion won the previous year, according to the company in a regulatory filing.
Operating profit for the October-December period was 36.7 billion won, down 67.8 percent from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Revenue fell 7.9 percent to 1.51 trillion won.
The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 62.7 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
For all of 2023, Kumho Petro Chemical saw its net profit slump 57.2 percent on-year to 436.2 billion won.
Its operating profit totaled 359 billion won, down 68.7 percent from a year ago. Annual sales decreased 20.7 percent to 6.32 trillion won.
The company attributed the weak bottom lin
e to prices of key petrochemical products amid a global economic slowdown.
Breaking down its business segments, its synthetic resin business earned 284.8 billion won in sales, down 12.5 percent from a year earlier, due to weakening demand for its products. Its operating loss expanded to 11.5 billion won from 5.6 billion won.
The phenolic derivatives sector posted 366.3 billion won in sales, down 20.3 percent from a year ago, while it turned to an operating loss of 10.4 trillion won.
But the company’s synthetic rubber business partly offset the sluggish performance in other segments.
Its sales jumped 10.3 percent on-year to 531.6 billion won, and operating profit soared 68.1 percent to 15.3 billion won on rising demand for premium synthetic rubber products.
Kumho Petro Chemical said it will strive to improve its profitability by diversifying market and product portfolios in the coming quarters in the face of anticipated prolonged challenges in the first quarter.
Shares of Kumho Petro Chemical vaulted 8.8
5 percent to 125,400 won Monday, outperforming the broader Korea Composite Stock Price Index’s 0.89 percent gain. The earnings report was released before the market closed.
Source: Yonhap News Agency