SABIC’s earnings surprise analysts as profits fall higher than estimates to 67% in Q3

SABIC’s earnings surprise analysts as profits fall higher than estimates to 67% in Q3

RIYADH: Saudi chemical giant SABIC saw its profits fall to SR1.84 billion ($490 million) in the third quarter of 2022, surprising analysts as they didn’t expect earnings to decline at that level. In response to the results, SABIC’s shares fell over 2 percent to reach SR87.9, as of 10:16 a.m. Saudi time. The company’s profits declined over 67 percent from SR5.6 billion in the same quarter a year earlier, recording a bigger fall than analysts had earlier estimated, despite a revenue jump of 7 percent to SR47 billion. “Today, SABIC shocked us with its third quarter of 2022 result. Even the most pessimistic did not expect these results” Saudi economist Ali Alhazmi told Arab News following the announcement. He added: “I believe, there are many reasons for this kind of result, such as an increase in raw materials (cost), which played a major role in those results, due to the rise in oil, relative contraction in the Chinese economy due to Zero COVID policy, and also a decline in demand in the European zone, due to war between Russia and Ukraine, and increase in the shipping cost.” SABIC also underperformed when it comes to nine-months performance, reporting a 10 percent