https://arab.news/wu4ef
RIYADH: Shares of the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. went down on Thursday after the chemical giant’s CEO revealed concerns about the outlook for chemicals' demand amid rising inflation.
The Riyadh-based firm saw its share price drop by 1.6 percent to SR121 ($32.3) at the closing bell, hours after it announced a surge in first-quarter profit.
Despite a 33 percent profit jump, the chemical major said it expects a drop in demand and rising costs to weigh on earnings for the rest of the year.
CEO Yousef Al-Benyan said that the global economic slowdown is anticipated to weigh on demand for chemicals in the second half of the year.
He said in the previous quarter the average cost “increased by 3 percent compared to the fourth quarter in 2021, and by 90 percent in the first quarter of 2021.”