KUALA LUMPUR (April 30): Shares in Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd fell 2.45% at mid-morning today following the group's announcement that its first quarter net profit slumped 77.1% to RM55.83 million from RM244.2 million a year earlier,

At 10.30am, Lotte Chemical lost 9 sen to RM3.58 with 3.6 million shares traded.

Lotte Chemical Titan said the drop in net profit is due to margin squeeze from fall in product selling prices.

The group said revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 dipped 2% to RM2.17 billion from RM2.21 billion previously, due to decrease in average product selling price. Earnings per share for the quarter dropped to 2.46 sen versus 10.74 sen a year earlier.