(MENAFNEditorial)The EQUATE Group, a global producer of petrochemicals, announced today USD 679 million in total net profit for the fiscal year ending 31 December 2016.
The EQUATE Group combines EQUATE Petrochemical Company, its subsidiaries, and The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC).
EQUATE Group’s CEO Mohammad Husain said, “At all levels, 2016 was an extremely difficult year with prices dropping by more than 14% and the feedstock was limited during the first half of the year for our Group as a whole. Despite these difficulties, the group made several achievements; we became the world’s second largest producer of Ethylene Glycol (EG) with a total production capacity of 2.4 million metric tons annually (MTA). We made excellent progress on our new 750,000 MTA EG plant in the US Gulf Coast (USGC) with advantaged feedstock. Construction commenced in the fourth quarter of 2016. The project is on time, on budget, and will be ready to start our operations during 2019.”
Husain added, “While securing investment grade ratings by S&P (BBB+) and Moody's (Baa2), the Group successfully issued a total of USD 2.25 billion bonds. This issuances made us the first non-financial and non-banking Kuwait-based enterprise to tap into such capital market products.”
“The petrochemical market witnessed several challenges during 2016. The average price for crude oil was around USD 42 in comparison with an average of USD 50 in 2015. Despite those developments, the Group, with strong focus on operational efficiency and cost control, was able to maintain its solid profitability and cash flow, achieving USD 1.2 billion EBITDA and an EBITDA margin of 33%,” noted Husain.
On the outlook for the petrochemical industry in 2017, Husain said, “Despite high feedstock limitation in some of our locations and fluctuating oil prices, impacting all other business sectors, we expect demand for our products to increase around 4.5% for PE and 4% for EG. EQUATE Group participates in certain downstream segments. So, the support of our employees, shareholders and customers allows us to grow at these rates on the basis of sustainability, reliability and innovation.”
Regarding EQUATE Group’s current strategic focus, Husain said, “Our two main focus areas are completing our USGC EG plant on time in 2019, and achieving maximum operational efficiency through the holistic integration of MEGlobal. These steps are critical for our strategic expansion plans as an international petrochemical enterprise with operations in Kuwait, the Americas and Europe. In addition, towards the end of 2017, we will have a major Turnaround (TA) for our Kuwait-based plants, which will include ethylene, ethylene glycol and other units. It will be one of the biggest TAs for petrochemicals in the Middle East & Africa.”
In conclusion, Husain extended overall appreciation and gratitude to EQUATE Group’s employees, shareholders, customers and other stakeholders for being “Partners in Success.”
MENAFN3003201700703322ID1095358237
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.