Saturday, Apr 21, 2012

(this item was originally published on Thursday)

--Industries Qatar reports a 5% net profit drop

--Petrochemical sales slide

--Steel and fertilizer units perform better

By Alex Delmar-Morgan

Of ZAWYA DOW JONES

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Industries Qatar (IQCD.DO), or IQ, the steel-to-fertilizer conglomerate, said Thursday net profit in the first quarter of the year fell 5% to 1.9 billion Qatari riyals ($527 million), from QAR2 billion in the year earlier period, as its petrochemical division suffered.

The result was still ahead of the QAR1.66 billion result that analysts at EFG Hermes had penciled in and beat Global Investment House's QAR1.79 billion prediction.

In an emailed statement, it said petrochemical revenue in the first quarter dropped 8% on last year to QAR1.3 billion due to multiple shutdowns at its fuel additives facilities. The group said it expected production at these plants to return to normal in the second quarter after losing 69 days in the first quarter due to the shutdowns.

Sales at its steel and fertilizer units performed better rising 22% and 15% on the year respectively, IQ said, driven in part by the launch of the $3.2 billion QAFCO 5 project in the first quarter.

Revenue growth in the second quarter will be helped by the launch of the QAPCO low-density polyethylene, or LDPE-3 facility, it added. The company posted first-quarter revenue of QAR4.4 billion compared to QAR4 billion a year ago, the statement said.

IQ said earnings per share in the latest three month period dropped to QAR3.47, from QAR3.81 a year earlier.

In February, IQ said it expects to make a net profit of 8.3 billion Qatari riyals ($2.28 billion) and revenues to reach QAR18.3 billion in 2012 on the back of higher earnings at some its units. The company made a 2011 net profit to QAR7.93 billion with revenues amounting to QAR16.55 billion.

Shares in IQ, which released its results after trading hours, fell 0.9% to QAR139.80 in a broadly negative overall market.

By Alex Delmar-Morgan, Dow Jones Newswires; +974 6659 9818; alex.delmar-morgan@dowjones.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

21-04-12 0723GMT