RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Tadawul-listed companies reported a US$48.1 billion (SAR 157.09 billion) aggregate net profit for the third quarter of 2023, a decline of 19 percent from US$52.2 billion (SAR 194.75 billion) in the year-ago period.
This was also due to the decline of Aramco’s Q3 profit by more than 21 percent and the losses from the petrochemicals sector.
Excluding Saudi Aramco, Q3 2023 aggregate net earnings declined 13 percent to US$8.9 billion.
SABIC and Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. logged net loss of US$770 million and US$306 million, respectively, as well as the loss incurred by Maaden.
Meanwhile, 40 companies operating in different sectors incurred losses in Q3 2023, led by SABIC and Petro Rabigh, in addition to the losses seen by Saudi Kayan and Cenomi Retail.
On the other hand, a total of 165 companies reported earnings in Q3 2023, of which 23 firms turned profitable, 90 logged profit growth, while 52 recorded a profit drop when compared to Q3 2023.
Sector-wise, the energy sector contributed the largest portion of the aggregate net profit of Saudi listed companies in Q3 2023, with 78 percent, after its profit fell by 21 percent YoY to US$32.7 billion, due to the decline in Aramco’s profit by 21 percent.
The banking sector accounted for 11.5 percent of the market’s aggregate profit, coming in second place in terms of the most profitable sectors, with a 9 percent rise in profit to US$4.8 billion, thanks to the increase in profit of eight out of 12 listed banks, driven by the rise in net special commissions income and decline in credit loss provisions for most banks in the sector.
The telecommunications sector ranked third, accounting for 3.7 percent of the market’s aggregate profit, up from the fifth rank in Q3 2022.
The sector’s profit rose by about 44 percent backed by a collective improvement in the results of the sector’s companies.
The basic materials sector fell to last rank from the third rank in the corresponding quarter a year ago, as the sector recorded US$349 million (SAR 1.31 billion) loss in Q3 2023, mainly affected by the losses of the petrochemical sector, which reached US$818 million (SAR 3.07 billion) against the backdrop of the results of SABIC’s results.
SABIC logged SAR 2.88 billion loss as a result of non-cash losses resulting from the deal to sell SABIC’s subsidiary Hadid for SAR 2.93 billion, in addition to lower global demand for chemicals, which led to a collective decline in the average selling prices of products in all of the company’s markets, mainly the US and Western Europe.
The cement sector’s profit also declined by 42 percent YoY as a result of the decline in sales value and volumes.