Total Revenue by Formosa Plastics Group's 4 Flagship Companies Up 3% YoY in Q4, 2013

Mainly driven by significantly higher production in December, revenue at Formosa Plastics Group's four flagship companies, Formosa Plastics Corp., Nan Ya Plastics Corp., Formosa Chemical & Fibre Corp. and Formosa Petrochemical Corp., totaled approximately NT$497.601 billion (about US$16.87 billion)  in the fourth quarter of 2013, up 3% year-on-year (YoY), according to the companies' latest financial statement.

In December, Formosa Petrochemical enjoyed the strongest growth of 10.9% in revenue of NT$89.598 billion (US$2.99 billion) over a month ago among others, mostly thanks to surging output of refined crude oil, which reached 527,000 barrels daily to be 50,000 barrels more month on month, with its three naphtha cracking plants all in full swing.

Meanwhile, Formosa Plastics, Nan Ya Plastics and Formosa Chemical & Fibre reported a month-on-month growth of 7.4%, 4.4% and 4.8%, respectively, in revenue of NT$19.882 billion (US$662.7 million), NT$27.569 billion (US$918.97 million) and NT$39.142 billion (US$1.304 billion), respectively, in the same month.

Formosa Plastics owed the revenue growth to its growing sales of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PE (polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene) after resuming production at its VCM (vinyl chloride monomer) plant in Kaohsiung and PE plant in New Taipei City; while Nan Ya Plastics attributed its performance to increasing sales of petrochemical products.

Formosa Chemical & Fibre noted that its growing December revenue resulted partly from soaring output and sales after periodical factory maintenance had been almost completed, and partly from price hikes of PP, SM (samarium), PX (paraxylene), OX (osmium) and acetone. Notable was that the firm's PTA (purified terephthalic acid) plant in China's Ningbo contributed the most to overall sales volume in the month.

　　

However, the four companies' overall net profits sharply plummeted 35% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) from NT$34.213 billion (US$1.14 billion) to only NT$22.24 billion (US$741 million) in the quarter, during which Formosa Chemical & Fibre suffered the deepest drop of 62%. The company explained that the whopping profit decline was caused partly by a higher base in the third quarter, and partly by suspension of a PTA production line amid weakening market demand.

Coincidentally, Formosa Plastics saw its net profits dive 14.4% QoQ to NT$5.51 billion (US$183.67 million) in the quarter, largely because of declining returns on reinvestment.

For the whole year, the four companies' revenue totaled NT$1.9018 trillion (US$633.93 billion), up 6.6% YoY, with net profits of NT$99.045 billion (US$3.301 billion), explosively surging 233.7%. Separately, Formosa Plastics posted the mildest surge of 39.3% in net profits of NT$20.638 billion (US687.93 million), while Nan Ya Plastics, Formosa Chemical & Fibre and Formosa Petrochemical enjoyed 588.3%, 212.3% and 886.1% growth, respectively, in NT$25.052 billion (US$835.06 million), NT$26.552 billion (US$885.06 million) and NT$99.045 billion (US$3.301 billion).

As to outlook in the first quarter of this year, Formosa Plastics opines that its performance will likely be better than the fourth quarter of 2013, primarily because market demand for PVC will hopefully explode in the U.S., where domestic housing starts and car market have recovered. Moreover, the company confirmed its capacity of PE has been fully booked throughout January, and emphasized that such robustness will be seen again in March, when market demand for films for agricultural use will soar for seasonal factors. (SC)

Latest Financial Statements by Formosa Plastics Group's 4 Flagship Companies for 2013
	Formosa Plastics Corp.	Nan Ya Plastics Corp.	Formosa Chemical & Fibre Corp.	Formosa Petrochemical Corp.
Revenue in December	NT$19.882 Bn.	NT$27.569 Bn.	NT$39.142 Bn.	NT$89.598 Bn.
MoM Growth Rate	7.4%	4.4%	4.8%	10.9%
Net Profits in Q4	NT$55.51 Bn.	NT$63.55 Bn.	NT$36.59 Bn.	NT$66.75 Bn.
QoQ Growth Rate	- 14.4%	- 20.6%	- 62.5%	- 33.0%
Annual Net Profits	NT$20.638 Bn.	NT$25.260 Bn.	NT$24.849 Bn.	NT$26.802 Bn.
YoY Growth Rate	39.3%	588.3%	212.3%	886.1%
Earnings per Share	NT$3.24	NT$3.19	NT$4.25	NT$2.81

Source: The said companies