SABIC Sunday announced its revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020 reached SR32.85 billion ($8.76 billion), compared with SR29.30 billion ($7.81 billion) in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, a net profit of SR2.22 billion ($0.592 billion) represented an 104% increase in net income quarter-over-quarter. The company also confirmed annual profits of SR40 million ($10.67 million). Annual company revenues totaled SR116.96 billion ($31.19 billion), compared to SR135.40 billion ($36.1 billion) in 2019. Yousef Al-Benyan, SABIC vice chairman and CEO, said: "Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 throughout last year, we have demonstrated the success of our business model and its ability to enhance our resilience, boost our operational excellence, and strengthen our global supply chain and presence." He added: "Complementing this, we witnessed the benefits of our transformation journey. The long-term trends we identified at the start were accelerated in the new normal, but our decisive pre-emptive actions played a key role in supporting our growth, cost control and competitiveness." Al-Benyan also stated: "The fourth quarter benefited from sustained economic recovery, which translated into higher demand for our products. Our global business model and the strength of our global supply chain continue to demonstrate their resilience and flexibility, positioning us well for long-term growth." SABIC also provided an update on the progress being made with Saudi Aramco in the identification of areas of synergy and collaboration that will create value for both parties. This follows Saudi Aramco's acquisition of a 70 percent stake in SABIC in June 2020. Both companies are focused on strategically transforming their growth optimization, joint venture management and service delivery model. SABIC's share of the expected annual value creation with Saudi Aramco, is predicted to amount to between $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion by 2025. Al Benyan said: "SABIC's collaboration with Saudi Aramco represents an excellent opportunity for both companies to align and harness their synergies — for their mutual benefit and for the benefit of respective customers, stakeholders and shareholders." Among other notable developments, which took place, SABIC announced a closure of the share purchase agreement with SAFCO. The resulting new entity, named 'SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company', will provide more focus and agility for the agri-nutrients business and a platform of sustainable growth to be both the national champion and a global leader in the agri-nutrients industry. SABIC established its specialties business as a standalone as well during the fourth quarter. The move generates significant value for SABIC by allowing Specialties to unlock its growth potential and become even more effective in addressing its unique business and customer requirements. — SG
