29.03.201816:54:00UTC+00BRASKEM: Company Posts R$ 386 Million Net Profit In The 4Q17

Braskem, the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas, reported a net profit of R$ 386 million (US$ 115.64 million) in the fourth quarter of 2017, after a R$ 2.531 billion loss in the same period of 2016.

Braskem's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) totaled R$ 2.952 billion, up 24% year-on-year.

Net sales totaled R$ 12.628 billion, up 5% from the fourth quarter of 2016. Petrochemicals sales in Brazil totaled 727.467 thousand tons, up 8% year-on-year. Sales of polyolefins grew 8.6%, to 745.237 thousand tons, with an increase of 8.6% in sales of polyethylene (PE), to 455.557 thousand tons, while sales of polypropylene (PP) increased by 8.5%, to 289.680 thousand tons.

Exports rose 3% in the fourth quarter, to 200.822 thousand tons, ending 2017 with an 8% drop compared to 2016, to 824.579 thousand tons. Chemical production increased 2% in the quarter, to 2.177 million tons, ending the year with a 2% increase, to 8.656 million tons.

The average utilization rate of Braskem's crackers was 95% in the quarter, up 3 percentage points from the third quarter of 2017. At the end of the year, the rate was at 94%, 2 pp above the rate in 2016, due to the record production of ethylene, butadiene, and gasoline.