Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) said its net profit for the fourth quarter in 2011 rose to hit KD18.07 million ($65 million) after posting a net loss of KD1.9 million the previous year.

Announcing the results for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, QPIC said the increase was ten times higher than the profits of same period in 2010 by KD19.9 million.
 
The earnings per share for the period stood at 16.50 fils per share, compared to a loss of 1.74 per share for the same period in 2010.

As for the fourth quarter, QPIC reported a net loss of KD2.38 million compared to a loss of KD316,898 in 2010. The budgeted loss for the fourth quarter was KD977,600.

Commenting on the results, QPIC chairman Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al Mubarak Al Sabah said, 'The fourth quarter returns came aligned with our expectations, whereas total assets stood at KD209.22 million at 31 December 2011, up 9 per cent over the year before.'

'Also, the investment in associate companies has gone up by 11 per cent or KD 4.21 million during this period,' he noted.
 
Sheikh Mubarak pointed out that the significant variance as compared to the budgeted loss of the fourth quarter was primarily owing to the increasing losses of Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company, which is 100 per cent owned by Kuwait Aromatics.

On the PTA-PET project, the chairman said QPIC had appointed leading consultancy group IHS to perform the role of project’s owner’s advisor, assisting Quarin in developing the project.

Sheikh Mubarak said, 'Along with that, QPIC is currently working with top consultancy firms to conduct a detailed feasibility study as well as engaging with technical partner to co-operate in developing the billion dollar project.'-TradeArabia News Service