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Saudi Aramco first-half profit falls 12% on lower oil prices
Net income was $46.9 billion in the first six months of the year, down from $53 billion a year earlier, state-owned Aramco said Monday in a statement.
Saudi Aramco posted a 12% decline in first-half profit as the world’s biggest oil exporter reported semi-annual results for the first time.
Net income was $46.9 billion in the first six months of the year, down from $53 billion a year earlier, state-owned Aramco said Monday in a statement. That reflects a decline in the price of crude and an increase in costs. Company officials have said it could sell shares in 2020 or 2021.
This comes on the day India’s Reliance Industries Ltd announced sale of a 20% stake in its oil to chemicals business to Aramco in one of the largest ever foreign investments in the country.
Aramco will hold its first-ever earnings call with investors later Monday as it tiptoes toward the greater disclosure required of public companies. It published annual financial statements for the first time in April, ahead of a $12 billion bond sale. An initial public offering would put the Saudi giant under even greater scrutiny from investors and invite comparisons with other oil majors.
Saudi Aramco, is a national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, and is said to be the most profitable company in the world.
Middle Eastern oil giants like Aramco have been expanding into downstream operations as they seek to move from being pure producers to becoming more integrated energy companies.
