Borealis, an Austrian petrochemical company controlled by an Abu Dhabi investment firm, said first-quarter profit surged 67 per cent because of higher demand for polyethylene.
Net income jumped to €102 million euros from €61m a year earlier, Vienna-based Borealis said in a statement. Sales rose 14 per cent to €2.26 billion.
The Borouge joint-venture polyolefins plant in Abu Dhabi helped boost earnings growth, Borealis said. The company is poised to benefit further as the site is expanded to add 2.5 million tonnes of annual capacity for materials including plastic ingredients polyethylene and polypropylene. Borealis has also upgraded plants in Kallo, Belgium and Grand-Quevilly, France.
“The improved results in the first quarter reflect our ongoing efforts to improve efficiency and plant operability as well as a slight upturn of the polyolefins market,” chief executive Mark Garrett said in the statement. “The single biggest challenge for 2014 will be the startup of Borouge 3,” the additional production site.
The fertiliser division suffered from a “soft market” and operational challenges, Borealis said.
The company was created 20 years ago from the combination of assets held by by Norwegian state-controlled oil producer Statoil and counterparts Neste Oil Oyj in Finland and OMV in Austria. Borealis is now 64 per cent-owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company and 36 per cent by OMV. Among its products is a lightweight plastic that’ i used on air-bag chutes on the Jaguar F-Type sports car.
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