SABIC posted a net profit of SAR3.41bn in the first quarter of 2019
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation ("SABIC") earned a net profit of SAR3.41bn in the first quarter of 2019, with an increase of 5% compared to SAR3.24bn achieved in the previous quarter.
The gross sales reached SAR37.37bn in the first quarter, with a decrease of 7% compared to the same quarter in the previous year and 11% lower than the previous quarter.
This change in the results of the first quarter of 2019 (compared to the same quarter of 2018), goes back to the slow demand growth, as well as the slow start of the economies this year, and the high level of inventory, according to SABIC.
"SABIC's performance has been strong despite the huge challenges facing the global markets." Vice chairman of SABIC, Youssef Al-Bunyan said.
"SABIC has shown strength and flexibility in its financial performance despite the difficult market conditions," Al-Bunyan added, "Although the decline in petrochemical prices that negatively impacted SABIC's results in the first quarter, we continued to deliver strong operating performance that we achieved the highest quarterly sales over the last four quarters."
"SABIC is moving forward with its transformation plan, launched three years ago, and we continue to make progress in niche products and stay on track in our transformation path of the agricultural nutrients." he also confirmed.
SABIC works on integrating the operational processes of Sadaf and Petrokemia to increase efficiency and enhance competitiveness. This step is expected to be completed in the second half of 2019.
Sustainability is a key theme for SABIC, the founding member of the 27-member Plastic Waste Disposal Alliance, a global initiative involving a number of leading plastics manufacturers and some consumer goods manufacturers. In light of this, and in order to support the circular economy, SABIC signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK-based Plastics Energy company, at the end of last year. The agreement focused on the production of recycled feedstock materials for the petrochemical used in our locations in Europe. Since then, SABIC has achieved another important milestone in the production of the approved recycled polymers, using materials for values derived from mixed plastic waste.
