New | Citic Resources says operating profit strong, but impairment seen from Qingdao port
Citic Resources reported a stronger operating profit for last year due to higher oil output, although it had to book HK$320 million of inventory impairment provision due to a warehouse receipts financing scandal at Qingdao port in mainland China.
The oil and metals unit of state-backed finance-to-property conglomerate Citic on Sunday said its profit before interest, finance costs and asset impairment losses was HK$1.26 billion last year, up from HK$492.4 million in 2013.
The improvement was boosted by a HK$412 million financial asset fair value accounting gain on its investment in Australia-based Alumina, a bauxite miner, alumina refiner and aluminium smelter. The gain arose from its accounting reclassification as a financial asset in Citic Resources’ books.
It booked a net profit of HK$223.8 million for last year, compared to a loss of HK$1.47 billion in 2013.
Operating profit grew 177 per cent year-on-year to HK$665.7 million last year from HK$240.2 million in 2013, due mainly to a crude oil production profit of HK$503.2 million, versus a loss of HK$145.7 million in 2013.