Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) has announced net profits of SR20.3 billion for 2006, its highest ever since inception.

The Saudi giant said the figure was a six per cent improvement over the net profit of SR19.2 billion in 2005. The increase in earning per share was SR8.13 compared with SR7.66 in 2005.
Sabic also reported record operating profits, production, sales and revenues. The total operating profits amounted to SR35.3 billion compared with SR 33.1 billion in 2005, up seven per cent. The total production in Sabic’s manufacturing complexes was 49.1 million tonnes compared with 46.7 million tonnes, an increase of five per cent. A total of 38.5 million tonnes was marketed compared with 36.6 million tonnes, an increase of five per cent over 2005. Sales revenues hit SR86.5 billion compared with SR78.3 billion, up 11 per cent. These are the highest revenues achieved by the company since its inception.
The results of fourth-quarter 2006 showed net profits amounting to SR6.1 billion compared with SR 4.5 billion during the same period in 2005, an increase of 36 per cent.
Prince Saud Ibn Abdullah Ibn Thunayan Al-Saud, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and chairman of Sabic, said the record profits were primarily due to the improvement in prices of most of the company’s products and the increase in sales.
He praised the efforts of Sabic and employees of its affiliates for their contributions to achieving the results in all areas, and especially in relation to enhancing customer satisfaction and timely delivery of products, which greatly impacted the increase of sales and speedy collection.
Prince Saud also praised the intensive efforts of the company to develop the efficiency and skills of the employees through training programmes at the Sabic Learning Centre. The company attaches great importance to the Centre, which seeks to graduate highly trained staff.
The prince also noted that Sabic had completed its strategic plan for 2020, which will help achieve high growth rates, diversify the portfolio and introduce value-added products.
Last December, Sabic completed the purchase of Huntsman’s UK based chemicals and polymers business for a purchase price of $685 million in cash. The acquisition marks a significant step in Sabic’s global growth plans. It will contribute, alongside other ongoing expansion projects at Yansab, Sharq, Ar-Razi, Saudi Kayan, GAS, Ibn Zahar and Sabic Europe to increasing company production capacity to 73 million tonnes by 2009.
In its last meeting, Sabic’s board of directors recommended to the general assembly the distribution of SR10 billion in cash dividends to shareholders at SR4 per share for 2006, of which SR1.5 per share was paid during 2006.