Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has turned to a loss of SAR 950 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, against a profit of SAR 3.41 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

Sales revenue dropped by 17.5% year-on-year (YoY) to stand at SAR 30.83 billion when compared to SAR 37.37 billion in Q1-19, according to a stock exchange statement on Monday.

The quarterly losses are largely attributed to a drop in average selling prices and impairments provisions in certain capital and financial assets by SAR 1.1 billion.

“Product prices remain challenged with no improvement in the supply/demand balance for key products in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter. This was further aggravated by COVID-19 becoming a global pandemic and the significant decline in Brent price towards the end of the quarter,” said Yousef Al Benyan, vice chairman and CEO of SABIC.

It is worth noting that in fiscal year (FY) 2019, SABIC’s net profit after zakat and tax amounted to SAR 5.56 billion, compared with SAR 21.52 billion in the year before, down by 74%