Riyadh, August 3, 2025 — Saudi Arabia’s flagship petrochemical company SABIC has reported a net loss of SAR 4.07 billion for the second quarter of 2025, confounding market expectations of a return to profit and deepening concerns over the company’s near-term outlook.
This marks the third consecutive quarterly loss for SABIC, one of the Middle East’s most influential industrial players and a key contributor to the Kingdom’s non-oil economy. Analysts had projected a modest profit of just over SAR 500 million for the quarter, but the results point to a more significant strain on core operations.
The loss was primarily driven by SAR 3.78 billion in impairment charges, related to the closure of a major cracker facility in the UK and a revaluation of investments in international assets, including its stake in Swiss specialty chemicals firm Clariant.
Total revenue for the quarter stood at SAR 35.57 billion, largely unchanged from the same period last year, but higher production costs, weak global demand, and ongoing oversupply in key chemical segments such as polymers and agri-nutrients eroded profitability.
In a statement following the results, company executives described the losses as “non-recurring in nature”, emphasizing their commitment to ongoing restructuring efforts aimed at streamlining operations and focusing on high-value product segments.
SABIC, which is 70% owned by Saudi Aramco, remains a central player in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategy to diversify the economy beyond crude oil. Its recent performance, however, has raised questions about the resilience of Saudi Arabia’s industrial growth amid global economic uncertainty.
Despite the earnings setback, SABIC announced a cash dividend of SAR 1.5 per share for the first half of the year, signaling confidence in its long-term fundamentals. Still, the company’s share price has declined nearly 20% since the start of 2025, reflecting growing investor caution.
As SABIC prepares to offload its National Industrial Gases business, possibly through a public offering, attention now turns to whether the firm can recover its footing in the second half of the year — and what its trajectory means for the broader Saudi economy.
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