Saudi Aramco announced a net profit of $68.2bn, SAR266bn, in thefirst nine months of this year, down 18% from the same period last year.
Aramco's revenues for the same period reached $217bn, down 7% fromthe same period last year.
The financial results were issued following the officialannouncement by the company of its intention to offer a share of its equity forIPO under the prospect of releasing Aramco's prospectus on November 9th.
Amid local and global anticipation, Aramco, the world's mostprofitable company, announced its official intention yesterday to offer a stakefor IPO.
What is confirmed for now is that the release of the prospectus forthe largest public offering in the world will be on November 9th andthat the final price will follow the process of building the order book.
Aramco also provided incentives to the Saudi investor so that he isentitled to receive a free share for every 10 shares he owns, provided that hekeeps his shares for 180 days from the date of listing.
In addition, Aramco offered some exemptions to foreign investors tofacilitate their participation in the IPO.
With regard to Aramco's acquisition of 70% stake in SABIC, whichrepresents the share of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), it confirmedthat it has adjusted the terms of payment for the acquisition, so that 36% ofthe $69bn deal will be paid in cash at the time of completion, with theremainder to be repaid in the form of a loan from the seller, secured by fourseparate Aramco bonds issued by Aramco to the PIF.
The final payment will be in 2025 with this transaction having noimpact on the dividend policy.
It's noteworthy that Aramco is one of the world's most profitablecompanies, with a daily net profit of $300mn in 2018.
This is reflected into achieving an annual profit of $111bn in2018, a 46% increase over 2017. While, net profit was $68bn in the first ninemonths of this year.
