Saudi Aramco announced a quarterly profit increase of 81.7% in the first quarter of 2022 to 148 billion riyals, compared to 81.4 billion riyals in the corresponding period of 2021.
The company’s profits grew on a quarterly basis by 21.9%, compared to 121.4 billion riyals in the previous quarter.
The value of operating profits achieved by Aramco in the first quarter of 2022 amounted to about 277.7 billion riyals, compared to 151.9 billion riyals in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 82.8%.
The company said that the increase in its profits in the first quarter is primarily due to the increase in crude oil prices and quantities sold, and the improvement in the profit margins of the refining, processing and marketing sector.
It attributed the increase in its profits on a quarterly basis to the rise in crude oil prices, and the improvement in the profit margins of the refining, processing and marketing sector.
Aramco stated that due to the nature of its activities in the field of research, exploration, drilling and extraction of hydrocarbons (exploration and production), Saudi Aramco’s consolidated income statement does not include the gross profit item.
Other income related to sales amounted to 49.89 billion riyals for the first quarter of 2022 (28.09 billion riyals for the first quarter of 2021, 42.86 billion riyals for the fourth quarter of 2021) and as a result, the total revenue and other income related to sales amounted to 516.90 billion riyals for the first quarter of 2022 (300.16 billion riyals for the first quarter of 2021, 446.27 billion riyals for the fourth quarter of 2021).
The preliminary report for the first quarter of 2022 bearing the full financial statements will be published on Monday 16 May 2022.
Detailed Aramco results as published on the website
Al-Rajhi Capital had expected that Aramco would achieve profits of 136.6 billion riyals during the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 74% compared to the same period in 2021.
Aramco previously stated that there will be no electronic broadcast of the results of the first quarter of 2022, and the electronic broadcast will coincide with the announcement of the semi-annual results in August 2022.
Analysts expected the company’s profits in the first quarter of 2022, to continue its trend towards achieving strong financial results during 2022, as oil prices remain well above $100 per barrel with widening downstream margins, which provides an additional boost, analysts say.
While expectations were that the expected average net income of Aramco’s net profit in the first quarter would reach $38.5 billion, equivalent to about 144.4 billion riyals, which is a sharp increase on an annual basis, according to the expectations of 12 analysts.
The current booming market environment has already helped raise Aramco’s market value to over $2 trillion, making it the most valuable company in the world ahead of the US company, Apple.
“The higher oil prices and refining margins will really help Aramco to post much higher profits this year,” said a Saudi-based analyst.
The state oil giant recorded a net profit of $21.7 billion in the same period in 2021. Aramco is expected to announce financial results for the first three months of the year on May 15, followed by a detailed breakdown of financial results the next day.
The current booming market environment has already helped lift Aramco’s market value to over $2 trillion, making it the most valuable company in the world ahead of the US tech giant Apple.
“The higher oil prices and refining margins will really help Aramco to post much higher profits this year,” said a Saudi-based analyst.
The analyst estimates that Aramco’s downstream profits for the first quarter will rise to about $5 billion, compared to $4.4 billion in the same period in 2021.
The Saudi oil giant had achieved a jump in net profit in 2021 by 124.4%. The company said that its net profit amounted to 412.4 billion riyals last year, compared to 183.76 billion riyals during 2020, which represents an increase of more than double.
The increase primarily reflected the impact of higher crude oil prices, the consolidation of SABIC’s full-year business results, and the significant increase in profit margins from the refining and chemicals business.
