Lotte explains drop

President and Head of Lotte Chemical BU Huh Soo Young point to the Bursa board at a listing ceremony of the company at Bursa Malaysia on July 11,2017. Looking on are President and CEO of Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Berhad Dr Lee Dong Woo and Chairman Lotte Chemical Titan Holdings Berhad Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat.

PETALING JAYA: Shares of Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd dived yesterday after the company announced a huge drop in profit that was caused by a scheduled plant turnaround and a water supply cut that disrupted operations of its plants in Johor.

Lotte Chemical shares closed lower by RM1.43, or 23.3%, to RM4.70 on 32.37 million shares after it announced a near 72% drop in second-quarter earnings to RM113.61mil from RM404.03mil a year ago. Revenue declined 11.2% to RM1.77bil from RM1.99bil, and earnings per share was at 6.58 sen compared with 23.38 sen a year ago.