Arab News

RIYADH: Saudi petrochemicals giant SABIC said first quarter profit more than doubled to SR4.86 billion ($1.3 billion) compared to the previous quarter as average sales prices jumped.

The Riyadh-headquartered company had made a loss of SR1.05 billion in the year earlier period.

It said average sales prices increased by 22 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2020.

The shares were about 2 percent lower in early trade on Thursday.

“The financial performance of SABIC improved in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the previous quarter due to increased margins driven by higher product prices, supported by a rise in the oil price, healthy demand and tightness in the supply for most of the key products,” the company said.

The first quarter 2021 profit was above an average forecast of SR3.68 billion, based on five analysts in Refinitiv Eikon, Reuters reported.

Brent crude oil prices increased by about 39 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the fourth quarter of 2020.

The Kingdom’s petrochemical sector has benefited from rebounding global demand for petrochemicals driven by a rise in consumption as economies emerge from a year of lockdowns.

SABIC Agri-Nutirents, the SABIC unit formerly known as SAFCO, on Wednesday said its first quarter net profit surged 39 percent to SR423 million.

Meanwhile Advanced Petrochemical Company also reported a 64 percent jump in first quarter net income to SR171 million — helped by a 36 percent rise in polypropylene sales.