If you were worried about Saudi Aramco six weeks on from the historic attacks that crippled 50% of Mohammed Bin Salman’s oil production, don’t be.
Although the breakdown is impossible to discern from the sparse reporting, the market learned on Tuesday that the world’s most profitable company raked in an astonishing $68 billion in profits during the first nine months of the year.
That means it’s still the world’s most profitable company. In 2018, Aramco had more net income than Apple, Google and Exxon combined.
You can make all manner of amusing comparisons using the nine-month figure reported by Bloomberg (citing people familiar with the figures) on Tuesday.
For example, Aramco made three times more money in the first nine months of this year than Exxon made in all of 2018. Or, Aramco’s nine-month income exceeded Apple’s full-year 2018 net income.
The new numbers were given to analysts working on the behemoth’s long-delayed IPO which has been the subject of near daily rumors since the attacks last month. On Tuesday, Al Arabiya cited sources in reporting that shares will begin trading in Saudi Arabia on December 11. To wit:
Saudi Aramco will list on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on December 11, Al Arabiya sources confirmed.
The only thing that’s been delayed more times than the Aramco offering is Brexit, which is amusing considering the December 11 date for trading on the Tadawul may well coincide (almost to the day) with a general election in the UK.
Prince Mohammed has struggled to convince the market that the $2 trillion valuation he’s looking for makes sense. His efforts to woo the world were complicated first by the October 2018 extrajudicial killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and again by the attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais.
