Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) reported a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter net profit, saying that soaring raw material costs had hurt earnings.

Fourth-quarter earnings, at SR4.5 billion ($1.2 billion), were marginally above the year-earlier result of 4.4 billion riyals but were down six per cent from the third quarter.
The company's full-year net profit hit a record SR19.2 billion, up 35 per cent from 2004.
Annual turnover reached SR78 billion, up 13.5 per cent from 2004, while sales volume rose by nine per cent to 36.6 million tonnes, Sabic's chief financial officer Mutlaq Al Morished said.
Sabic chief executive Mohamed Al Mady said expansion projects were progressing on track.