Meanwhile, after the disappointing second quarter 2Q17 results due to the unplanned shutdown because of water shortage and multiple non-recurring items, CIMB Research expects Lotte’s net profit to recover in the third quarter of 2017. “We project average utilisation rate of 80% in the third quarter of 2017 for Lotte. We believe the third quarter and fourth quarter 2017 earnings will be strong at RM0.2bil-RM0.5bil per quarter, thanks to high margins for HDPE-naphtha, benzene-naphtha and PP-naphtha, which would more than offset the weak BD-naphtha margin,” the house said. CIMB thinks Lotte remained attractive given the anticipated strong earnings growth recovery post second quarter 2017. This is driven by utilisation rate improvement that is expected to go on in the third to fourth quarter of 2017.

Source: The Star September 25, 2017 00:17 UTC