Plans are under way to sell more shares of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation to the public, according to Prince Saud ibn Abdullah ibn Thunayyan, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu.
“The shares will be floated for public subscription at the appropriate time,” he told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
The government now holds 70 percent stake in the petrochemical giant while the rest is owned by the citizens of Saudi Arabia and other GCC states. “SABIC’s basic law stipulates that its ownership would be shifted to citizens gradually with the state holding only 25 percent of its shares,” the daily quoted Prince Saud as saying.
The company made a profit of SR5.34 billion in the first half of this year, he said.
Prince Saud projected that the company’s sales in Europe would rise by 22 percent shortly.
Asked whether SABIC has any plan to curtail its 16,000-strong staff to cut costs, Prince Saud said: “We have not taken staff retrenchment as a goal in itself. On the other hand, we focus on expanding our operations and increasing our profits.” (menaerport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
