Middle East financial results offer mixed bag in Q2/H1 2024

Middle Eastern oil, chemical and petrochemical producers have released their Q2 and H1 2024 financial results, revealing mixed performance. Despite access to advantaged feedstocks, profit trends varied widely—some companies faced declines in profits and some even continued to incur losses, while others reported significant gains.

Lower oil prices hit Aramco

State-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco’s net income for the second quarter of 2024 totaled $29.07 billion, down from $30.08 billion in the same period of 2023. This decline was primarily due to reduced crude oil sales volumes and declining refining margins. Aramco’s Q2 net income was higher than $27.3 billion reported in the first quarter of 2024 though.

The company’s net income was $56.3 billion in H1 2024, down from $62 billion in the same period last year.

Upbeat results

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) reported a net profit of 2.18 billion riyals ($582 million) for Q2 2024. This represents a sharp 85% year-on-year increase, and a surge from 250 million riyals ($66.66 million) net profit reported in the first quarter of 2024.

The company’s net profit soared by 32% to SAR 2.43 billion ($656.1 million) for H1 2024.

Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu National Petrochemical Company’s (Yansab) net income skyrocketed to SAR 224.8 million ($59.9 million) in the second quarter of 2024 from SAR 27.4 million ($7.3 million) in the same period last year. Yansab’s net income more than doubled from SAR 99.5 million ($26.5 million) announced in the first quarter of 2024.

The company swung to a net profit of SAR 324 million ($86 million) in H1 2024, compared to a net loss of SAR 342 million ($91 million) in the year-earlier period.

Saudi Arabia’s National Petrochemical Industrial Co. (NATPET) also reported a net income of SAR 47.6 million ($13 million) for Q2, marking a 9.4% rise from the previous quarter and a 2.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

The company’s net profit for H1 2024 reached SAR 91.2 million ($24 million), reflecting a 53.9% surge from SAR 59.2 million ($16 million) the same period last year.

UAE’s Borouge reported a net profit of $308 million for the second quarter of 2024, an increase of 33% year-on-year.

The company’s net profit for the first half of 2024 was $581 million, a 35% increase from the same period last year.

UAE’s ADNOC Group’s listed companies posted strong financial results for Q2 and H1 2024, with the six firms recording a 12.9% year-over-year increase in net profit, reaching AED 623 million ($170 million). The company’s H1 2024 net profit attributable to equity holders rose by 7.7% year-over-year to AED 1.2 billion ($327 million).

Incurring losses

Saudi Arabia’s Sadara Chemical, a joint venture between Dow Chemicals and Saudi Aramco, reported a net loss of SAR 1.07 billion ($285.3 million) in Q2 2024. The company narrowed its net loss by 22.3% from SAR 1.39 billion ($370.7 million) in the same period last year.

Nonetheless, the company’s accumulated losses exceeded 100% of its share capital as of June 30, 2024.

Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) reported a SAR 1.1 billion ($293 million) loss in Q2 2024, compared to a SAR 1.19 billion ($317 million) loss in the same period last year and SAR 1.36 billion ($363 million) in Q1 2024.

The company’s net loss for the first half of 2024 widened to SAR 2.46 billion ($655 million) in H1 2024, compared to SAR 2.16 billion ($575 million) in a year-earlier period.

Industries Qatar (IQ) reported a net profit of 1.1 billion Qatari riyals ($302 million) for the second quarter of 2024, an 18% decline from the previous quarter’s 1.3 billion Qatari riyals ($356 million).

For the six-month period ended 30 June 2024, the company reported a consolidated net profit of 2.3 billion Qatari riyals ($630 million), marking a moderate 12% improvement compared to the same period in 2023.