A picture taken on January 17, 2016 shows the headquarters of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) in the Saudi capital Riyadh (FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi petrochemicals giant SABIC said on Sunday its net profit in the fourth quarter dropped due to lower sales prices but rose for 2018 as a whole.

SABIC, the largest listed firm in the kingdom, said in a statement that its net profit in the final quarter of last year fell 12.4 percent to 3.24 billion riyals ($864 million) from $987 million in the corresponding period of 2017.

It attributed the fall to lower selling prices of its products and to a drop in the results of its associates and joint ventures.

But SABIC profit for the whole of 2018 rose 17 percent on overall higher prices and an increase in sales, the company said.

SABIC, which is among the top 10 global petrochemicals manufacturers in the world, posted a net profit of 21.54 billion riyals ($5.74 billion) in 2018 compared to $4.91 billion in the previous year.

Oil prices rose gradually for most of 2018 but dropped sharply by 40 percent in the fourth quarter due to oversupply fears before recovering partially.

Total revenues of the company, in which the government holds a 70-percent stake, rose 12.9 percent to $45.1 billion last year compared to $39.9 billion in 2017, according to the statement.

Saudi national oil company Aramco is in preliminary talks to buy the government’s stake in SABIC, in order to diversify its own portfolio, in a deal which would be worth over $70 billion.

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