Petrochemicals giant Sabic (Riyadh / Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com) reported a net profit soaring 24% to SR 18.3 bn (EUR 4.3 bn) in the first nine months of 2018. The company did not disclose third-quarter figures, except for sales, which expanded 13% to SR 43.71 bn. It attributed the company's strong performance this quarter to higher levels of "reliability in operations" and efficient cost management. Nine-month sales jumped 17.7% to SR 128.86 bn while operational profit reached SR 29.73 bn, up 32.6%.

CEO Yousef Al-Benyan said Sabic would establish a new company to promote the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as local content creation in Saudi Arabia. Details are to be announced later.

Sabic is currently at the centre of speculation that Saudi Aramco (Dhahran / Saudi Arabia; www.saudiaramco.com) plans to buy a controlling stake in the plastics producer, possibly taking the entire 70% interest held by PIF, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund – see Plasteurope.com of 11.09.2018, 27.08.2018 and 30.07.2018.