Riyadh – Saudi stock market companies continued to announce fiscal results of 2016 one after another. Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), one of the world’s largest petrochemicals groups, announced a 4.5% drop of net profit in 2016.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) reported a rebound in fourth-quarter profit in 2016 up to 8% compared to the same period of 2015.

SABIC said that net profit in 2016 reached SAR17.9 billion (USD4.8 billion) compared to SAR18.7 billion (USD4.9 billion) in 2015, a drop of 4.5% while the fourth quarter net profit reached SAR4.5 billion (USD1.2 billion) compared to SAR3.08 billion (USD821.3 million) in the same period of 2015.

Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SABIC, stated that the company presented a good performance in 2016 in the face of unusual conditions of the market. “The company has a strong financial and strategic capability that makes it qualified to exploit chances during economic instability phases. SABIC also achieved sustainable development through expanding productivity energies of its current facilities and investing in new industrial facilities around the world,” said Benyan.

In a news conference in SABIC Riyadh headquarters, Benyan affirmed that the company succeeded in reinforcing performance and increasing productivity and sales year after year.

He added that the company activities are in an expanding phase due to new joint projects with pioneering companies such as: Aramex, ExxonMobil in the U.S., Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group in China and other projects.

In the telecommunication sector, Mobily announced a drop in losses to SAR202.9 million (USD54.1 million) in the end of 2016. The company attributed this positive development to key reasons including reducing expenditures and collecting some dues.