Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) announced its financial results for the year ended March 31, 2021 with a net income of KD14.50 million ($47.89 million), compared to KD28.23 million last year. 

 

Earnings per share (EPS) for the year is 14.19 fils versus 27.45 fils last year.

 

Total consolidated sale revenues marginally increased to reach KD231.40 million from KD229.11 million reported for the previous year owing to the improved performance from subsidiaries.

 

Total consolidated assets stood at KD759.39 million as at March 31 2021, compared to KD779.42 million at March 31, 2020, showing a slight decrease mainly due to the dividend payout.

 

QPIC’s Board of Directors (BoD) recommended the distribution of a cash dividend of 16 per cent (16 fils per share), subject to approval by the Company’s General Assembly and the regulatory authorities.

 

Commenting on the results, QPIC’s Chairman, Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, said: “The year 2020 was exceptionally challenging on many fronts. We began the year with deteriorating petrochemical prices, followed by the spread of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its accompanying precautionary measures that disrupted most international and local business cycles and resulted in lower profits due to QPIC’s high business concentration in the petrochemical sector. 

 

“Nonetheless, we are confident that QPIC’s balanced and diversified portfolio is capable of withstanding different market challenges on our future results, as we continuously review new investment opportunities that will enhance the balance of our portfolio and maximise the interests of our shareholders.”

 

QPIC’s Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sadoun Ali, said: “Despite the lower announced figures as a result of the sharp drop in the petrochemical markets, which were further impacted by the spread of the onset pandemic, the achieved results were in line with our expectations, supported by the diversification strategy we adopted in 2012 to reduce our exposure to petrochemicals from 100% at the time to below 50% today.

 

"This has played a key role in lessening the impact of deteriorating petrochemical prices. We look forward to maintaining our healthy performance levels in the coming financial year with the support of our balanced portfolio, which will mainly rely on two factors; the continued improvement of oil and petrochemical markets that we are currently witnessing, and the pace of recovery in international and regional markets with the rollout of the vaccine.” -- TradeArabia News Service