HONG KONG, April 20 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited ("Shanghai Petrochemical" or the "Company") (HKEx: 338; SSE: 600688; NYSE: SHI) announced today the unaudited operating results of the Company and its subsidiaries (the "Group") for the three-month period ended March 31, 2009 (the "Period").
Under the China Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises, the Group's operating income for the Period amounted to RMB9.073 billion (1Q 2008: RMB16.020 billion.) Operating profit for the Period was RMB146 million (1Q 2008: operating loss was RMB434 million). Net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company for the Period was RMB164 million (1Q 2008: net loss attributable to equity shareholders of the Company was RMB200 million). Basic diluted earnings per share was RMB0.023 (1Q 2008: basic diluted loss per share was RMB0.028).
Mr. Rong Guangdao, Chairman of Shanghai Petrochemical, said, "As a result of the significant decrease in crude oil prices in the international market, the Group's crude oil processing costs dropped gradually in recent months. Under the present prevailing crude oil prices, the improved pricing mechanism for refined oil products effective January 1, 2009 - based on the "Notice on the Implementation of Price, Tax and Fee Reforms for Refined Oil Products" promulgated by the State Council on December 18, 2008 - has ended the situation whereby prices of refined oil products were inverted with those of crude oil. This has consequently improved the profitability of the oil refining operation. In relation to the petrochemical operation, after the panic sell-off and sharp decrease in prices of products triggered by the financial crisis, product prices have bottomed out and re-stabilized, with prices of certain products having risen to a certain extent. The plant operation load of the relevant petrochemical plants of the Company has increased. Meanwhile, the Company has further strengthened its internal control. Through adopting measures including cost reduction, energy conservation and expense reduction, and through optimizing product mix, process-flow as well as purchase of raw and auxiliary materials, the Company strived to fully tap the potential and improve efficiency in the tough business environment. The above-mentioned factors have resulted in a profit for the Group for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009."
Shanghai Petrochemical is one of the largest petrochemical companies in the PRC and was one of the first Chinese companies to effect a global securities offering. Located at Jinshanwei in the southwest of Shanghai, it is a highly integrated petrochemical complex which processes crude oil into a broad range of products in synthetic fibres, plastics and resins, intermediate petrochemicals and refined oil products.
This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these forward-looking statements by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. The accuracy of these statements may be impacted by a number of business risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated, including risks related to: the risk that the PRC economy may not grow at the same rate in future periods as it has in the last several years, or at all, including as a result of the PRC government's macro-economic control measures to curb over-heating of the economy; uncertainty as to global economic growth in future periods; the risk that prices of the Company's raw materials, particularly crude oil, will continue to increase; the risk that the Company may not be able to raise its product prices (particularly refined oil products) accordingly which would adversely affect the Company's profitability; the risk that new marketing and sales strategies may not be effective; the risk that fluctuations in demand for the Company's products may cause the Company to either over-invest or under-invest in production capacity in one or more of its four major product categories; the risk that investments in new technologies and development cycles may not produce the benefits anticipated by management; the risk that the trading price of the Company's shares may decrease for a variety of reasons, some of which may be beyond the control of management; competition in the Company's existing and potential markets; and other risks outlined in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update this forward-looking information, except as required under applicable law.
For Consolidated Income Statement (Unaudited), please refer to:
http://www.xprn.com/sa/attachment/2009/04/20090417-100057.pdf
For further information, please contact:
Ms. Janet Lai / Ms. Christy Lai
Rikes Hill & Knowlton Limited
Tel: +852-2520-2201
Fax: +852-2520-2241
