Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Basic Industries Company (SABIC) posted a net profit of SAR 3.41 billion ($909 million) in the first quarter of 2016, down 13.23% from SAR 3.93 billion ($1.05 billion) in the same period in 2015.
Despite the decline, SABIC’s profits exceeded the expectations of eight research firms, which anticipated that profits will be around SAR 3.19 billion for the three-month period.
The profit fall was due a decline in average product pricing, the industrial firm said in its filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), adding that the Saudi metals sector saw an overall loss of SAR 725 million as well as lower cost of sales during Q1-16.
