Saudi Aramco said in a report on its first-half profit that the profit fell 12% to $46.9bn in the first six months of 2019.
Thus, the company would have easily bypassed giantssuch as Apple, Amazon and other big oil producers, many of which suffered adecline in profits due to lower prices of products and crude oil.
"We have some of the largest and most productivereserves in the world," Khalid Al-Dabbagh, the company's senior vice presidentfor finance, strategy and development, said in an interview.
Al-Dabbagh added that "the company's financial resultsare unrivaled," in light of the decline in oil prices is "a testimony to ourresilience".
Saudi Aramco paid $46.4bn in dividends in the firsthalf, including $20bn in dividends to its owners, compared with $6bn for the lastyear.
According to Roy Price, CFO, this is especiallyimportant for potential investors ahead of the IPO planned for 2020 or 2021.
The average selling price of Aramco crude fell to $66a barrel in the first half from $69 a year earlier, while crude productionremained steady at 10 million barrels of oil equivalent on a daily basis.
Free cash flow increased by almost 7% to $38bn due tomovements in working capital and lower capital expenditure.
"All this results in the best financial performanceany investor is looking for when evaluating Saudi Aramco. Saudi Aramco is readyfor an initial public offering," Khalid Al-Dabbagh said.
Al-Dabbagh repeated that the decision on any stockexchange will be offered and the date to proceed with process, is theresponsibility of the government.
Saudi Arabia, for its part, wants to raise a record of$100bn from the sale of a 5% stake in Aramco, making it the biggest IPO inhistory and a win-win situation for any banks involved in the process.
Saudi Arabia announced plans for an IPO of Aramcothree years ago. Aramco sold bonds to buy a 70% stake in SABIC from the Saudisovereign wealth fund. It was said on Monday that the acquisitions had yet totake place.
Aramco plans to buy a stake in the refining andchemicals business of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India, seekingbuyers for its crude oil production and diversification.
Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani commented that Aramcowould acquire a 20% stake in the company's oil-to-chemicals conversionbusiness, including the 1.24 million bpd Jamnagar refinery on the west coast ofIndia.
