Vertical Divider

​World’s Most Profitable Company Suffers 12% Drop in Net Income
August 19, 2019
​ 
In its inaugural half-year update, state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco reported a $47b profit, down 12% Y/Y. It’s still the world’s most profitable company. Apple is #2 with a net income of ~$20b for the same timeframe. Oil prices in 1H19 were lower than for most of 2018, which dented Saudi Aramco’s profits. Regardless, its profit continued to dwarf its peers' – and that of the world’s most profitable public company, Apple. The private company – which has long been shrouded in secrecy – didn’t have to report earnings, but given that Aramco is looking to attract investors for a potential upcoming initial public offering, transparency is in its best interests.  Saudi Arabia has more than 50 years' worth of reserves, but has been trying to diversify as s Saudi Aramco, having entered the liquefied natural gas market in May. It also  announced a move into India, buying a 20% stake in the oil refining business of Reliance Industries for $15 billion. In 2018, Aramco produced 10 million barrels of crude oil per day and refined just half: if it can lift that capacity, it’ll secure more buyers, sell more refined products, and cushion itself against the whims of the oil price. On Monday, UK oil exploration company Tullow Oil revealed it’d struck black gold in Guyana – and its shares rose 17%. The new site could yield more than 100 million barrels of oil, and the current price of just one barrel is $58.  From: Finimize