KUALA LUMPUR: LOTTE Chemical Titan Holding Bhd (LCT) expects its outlook to remain challenging in the near future in view of the volatile external environment.
President and CEO Park Hyun Chul said: “2022 was a year of unprecedented challenges with the world facing major global events such as war, inflation, and recession fears. These external factors have weakened global economic activities and negatively affected the demand for petrochemical products in the region.”
“The outlook of the company is expected to remain challenging in the near term in view of the market situation. However, the management has implemented the optimisation plan by balancing our production outputs and economic efficiencies.
“We have also conducted rigorous cost management and financial liquidity to ensure the financial positions of the group remained healthy,” he said in a statement.
As at Dec 31, 2022, LCT has cash and bank balances of RM1.32bil.
“To reward our shareholders for their continued and unwavering support, LCT had declared a special dividend of 13.98 sen per share which amounted to a dividend payout of RM318.4mil on Nov 24,” Park said.
In the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, LCT posted a net loss of RM317.2mil, or 13.93 sen loss per share against a net profit of RM168.9mil, or 7.42 sen earnings per share.
Its revenue during the quarter declined 23% from RM2.68bil to RM2.07bil due to lower average product selling price and sales volume.
For the full financial year ended Dec 31, LCT posted a net loss of RM714.6mil on revenue of RM10bil.
