Shandong Haihua Unveils Q1 Loss       

Shandong Haihua Co., Ltd. (SZ: 000822), China's leading inorganic chemicals maker, said net profit fell 40.65% to RMB207 million in 2008 while sales dipped 1.51% to RMB8.58 billion, according to its annual results.
    Meanwhile, the company posted a loss of RMB136 million in the first quarter of the year, versus a net profit of RMB126 million in the same period a year earlier.
    Shandong Haihua engages in the manufacture of soda ash, calcium chloride, bromine, melamine, nitrate, caustic soda and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). As a leading inorganic salts player in China, the company has once been pursued by other giants home and abroad as an acquisition target.
   In September 2008, Shandong Haihua Group Co., Ltd. agreed to transfer its 51% stake in Shandong Haihua Co., Ltd. to China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC). But the deal has been approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision Administration Commission of the State Council till April 2nd this year. CNOOC has recently applied to the China Securities Regulatory Commission for a formal transfer of the stake.
   Slowing economy and the weak property market are to blame for the dismal results for Shandong Haihua, which had been reporting handsome results, a company vice president said. As most of Shandong Haihua's products are used in glass processing, the demand and prices for soda ash and calcium chloride have dropped sharply due to the economic downturn and sluggish property sector, brining down the corporate earnings.
   Soda ash is the main contributor for the company's sales and profit. In its 2008 sales of RMB8.58 billion, soda ash contributed RMB2.4 billion while the PVC/caustic soda sector made up RMB1.31 billion.