RIYADH, 23 April 2004 — First quarter 2004 net profit at Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) was SR2.35 billion ($626.7 million), up 68 percent from a year earlier, due to higher output and firmer product prices, it said on Wednesday. SABIC is the second largest listed Saudi firm and the Middle East’s biggest petrochemicals producer.
Vice Chairman and Managing Director Mohamed Al-Mady said in a statement on the official bourse Website that the rise was also due to the company’s improved performance on world markets and to cost cutting measures.
The statement said quarterly profits were 20 percent higher than those of the last quarter of 2003. It gave no figures.
The company posted a net profit of SR1.396 billion in the first quarter of 2003.
SABIC, 70 percent owned by the Saudi government, controls and operates 16 complexes with international firms, producing petrochemicals, fertilizers, steel and plastics.
SABIC’s shares closed down 3.17 percent at SR458.00 on Wednesday compared with year high of SR477.00 on April 17 and a year low of SR321.00 in January.
