InvestIdeas

A series of unfortunate events plagued LCT in 2017 before and after its relisting exercise, including an initial public offering (IPO) hiccup that saw its offer price slashed by one-fifth to RM6.50 from RM8 previously, as well as a sharp fall in earnings due to water supply disruptions at its Pasir Gudang plants.

Since then, its financial performance has been weak, with net profit falling to a low of RM154 million in 2020 against over RM1 billion in 2017.

It posted a net profit of RM440 million for the January-March 2021 period — its best quarterly results since the flotation of its shares on Bursa Malaysia, thanks to the rising polymer-naphtha spread trend.

All eyes are also on its planned RM18 billion Lotte Chemical Indonesia New Ethylene (LINE) project as it would propel LCT to become one of top three petrochemical companies in the region.

Nnchanged target price (TP) of RM2.92, and said that Hurricane Ida may push up polyethylene (PE) and mono ethylene glycol (MEG) prices.