RIYADH, Asharq Al-Awsat- Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) reported net profit of SR 4.6 billion in the second quarter 2006. The total profits generated in the first half of 2006 amount to SR 8.8 billion compared to SR 9.8 billion in the same period last year.

Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman & CEO said, “SABIC’s profits in the second quarter 2006 exceeded the profits reported in the first quarter 2006 by 9 percent. This is due to increase in the quantity of sales and improvement of prices in spite of the substantial negative impact of the rise in the prices of liquid raw materials and iron ore, which led to the reduction in the profits of the first half of this year by 22 percent.

“The quantity of production for the first half of 2006 is approximately 23.5 million tons, compared to 22.5 million tons for the same period of the previous year, while the quantities sold amount to 18.8 million metric tons compared to 17.3 million metric tons for the same period of the previous year, generating income of SR 40.2 billion compared to SR 37.1 billion for the same period last year.

“The Board of Directors of SABIC, under the chairmanship of Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thunayan Al-Saud, has approved the distribution of semi-annual cash dividends amounting to SR 3.75 billion at SR 1.5 per share (representing 15 percent of the corporate capital). The date of profit eligibility will be for the owners of the company’s shares registered in the records of the Securities Deposit Center at the end of trading on Monday, July 31, 2006. The company will start payment after three weeks from the date of eligibility.