SABIC makes US $2 bln quarterly profit

Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world's fourth-biggest petrochemicals company, said it made a second-quarter profit of 7.64 billion riyals ($2 billion) from a 2.22 billion riyal loss in the same period last year.

The company said it expects solid performance to continue in the second half of 2021, due to higher oil prices and an increase in demand.

"Average selling prices rose by more than 10 percent backed by oil price increases and healthier demand. We expect the second half of 2021 to be similar to the first half," CEO Yousef al-Benyan told a virtual news conference.

According to the company’s data, SABIC sales jumped 72.3 percent to 42.4 billion riyals in the second quarter from 24.6 billion a year earlier.

Sabic is 70 percent owned by Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco.