Sinopec FY19 Profit Down; Sees Weak Domestic Demand In H1 Due To COVID-19

(RTTNews) - China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP) or Sinopec reported Monday that its fiscal 2019 net profit attributable to equity shareholders declined 8.7 percent to 57.59 billion Chinese yuan from 63.09 billion yuan last year.

Earnings per share were 0.476 yuan, down from 0.521 yuan last year.

Adjusted attributable net profit was 54.27 billion yuan, compared to prior year's 59.63 billion yuan.

Profit before taxation fell 10.4 percent from last year to 90.02 billion yuan, and operating profit declined 11.3 percent to 90.03 billion yuan.

Operating income, however, grew 2.6 percent to 2.97 trillion yuan from 2.89 trillion yuan last year.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2020, the company said it expects the fundamentals sustaining sound economic growth in China remain unchanged, despite the increasing instability and uncertainty of the international political and economic situation, and the impact on China's economy by coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak in the short term.

Domestic demand for energy and chemical products will be relatively weak in the first half, but the accumulated demand is expected to be released rapidly after outbreak.

Due to the outbreak, the adjustment of the Company's production plan for 2020 is currently underway. The company said it will confirm the production plan according to the market trends in the future.

Separately, Sinopec said it has proposed to appoint Liu Hongbin as an executive director of the seventh session of the Board of Sinopec.