MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC, Saudi petrochemical major, has announced fourth quarter net profits of 5.83 billion riyals (USD1.55 bln), an 11.3% increase compared to 2011, reported Bloomberg.
Despite the quartely increase, the company said 2012 net income had dropped by 15.5% to 24.72 billion riyals (USD6.59 billion) from 29.24 billion riyals the year before.
A statement attributed the increase in the fourth-quarter net to "higher sales volumes and sales prices for certain products." The decrease in yearly earnings was due to "higher costs of sales and lower sale prices for certain products, despite higher sales and production volumes and reduction in financial charges."
Sabic is ranked among the world's largest petrochemicals manufacturers. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. The comany manufactures chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer. Among its products are propylene, paraxylene, styrene, vinyl chloride monomer. Sabic's venture capital arm is looking for opportunities in the U.S., Europe and China to buy stakes in start-up companies that can turn shale gas into petrochemicals, as MRC reported earlier. Formed last November, the Netherlands-based business is negotiating 30 to 40 deals and is looking especially at technologies that use different feedstocks.
MRC