17/01/2011
Sipchem Q4 net profit more than doubles
Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) said on Sunday its fourth-quarter net profit more than doubled year-on-year to SR125.1 million ($33.36 million).
Sipchem made a net profit of SR56.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, the company said.
It said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website its operational profit rose to SR282.3 million from SR122.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Full-year net profit soared to SR378.1 million from SR140.9 million in 2009, it said.
Sipchem mainly attributed the profit rise to higher methanol and butanediol output, sales and prices.
The firm started commercial operations at its acetyls complex, which is part of its second phase of development plans mid-2010.
The complex, in Jubail on the Gulf coast, will produce 450,000 tons of acetic acid, 330,000 tons of vinyl acetate monomer and 345,000 tons of carbon monoxide annually. The company, through an affiliate, is embarking on a third expansion phase.
