Sabic approves $1.8bn in first-half dividend

The payout represents 22.5% of the company’s nominal share value

Sabic is majority owned by the world’s largest oil-exporting company Saudi Aramco. Reuters

The board of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), the Middle East's biggest petrochemicals company, approved a dividend of 6.75 billion Saudi riyals ($1.8bn) for the first half of 2022, as the company continues to post profits amid a market recovery.

The first-half cash dividend of 2.25 riyals a share represents 22.5 per cent of the nominal share value and will be distributed to eligible shareholders on October 2, Sabic said in a statement on Sunday to the Tadawul Stock Exchange, where its shares are traded.

The dividend will be distributed to shareholders “who own the company shares on the eligibility date and enrolled in the company's register at Securities Depository Centre Company (Edaa) by the end of the second trading day following the due date, corresponding to September 11, 2022”, the company said.

Sabic is majority-owned by the world’s largest oil-exporting company, Saudi Aramco, which acquired a 70 per cent stake in the company in 2020 for $69bn.

The company reported a 33 per cent jump in first-quarter profit after revenue rose on higher average selling prices and volumes.

Net profit after zakat and tax for the three months to the end of March climbed to 6.47bn riyals as revenue during the period rose 40 per cent to 53bn riyals.

“Sabic’s first-quarter results demonstrated strong performance, driven by continued healthy demand for our products, higher oil prices and our diverse global portfolio,” Yousef Al Benyan, the company's vice chairman and chief executive, said at the time.

Oil prices have continued to trade higher, supported by supply concerns caused by Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine. Brent, the global benchmark for two-thirds of the world's oil, is up more than 40 per cent since the start of this year, after falling from a 14-year high of about $140 a barrel in the middle of March amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Aggregate earnings of Saudi Arabia’s listed petrochemicals companies are expected to “normalise” this year after a record 2021 amid changing market dynamics, SNB Capital, the investment banking arm of the kingdom’s biggest lender, said in a report earlier this year.