Sabic posts biggest loss since 2003 amid asset sales and sector glut

Sabic reported its largest annual loss in 22 years for 2025, taking an SAR 25.78 bn hit — surpassing Bloomberg analysts’ expectations of SAR 22.48 bn. Revenue slipped 1% y-o-y to SAR 116.53 bn, the company said in an earnings release (pdf).

The massive bottom-line loss is largely a deliberate accounting reset rather than an operational collapse. The company recorded SAR 15.2 bn in noncash losses from revaluing assets it is exiting in Europe and the Americas, alongside SAR 3.8 bn in provisions and impairments linked to a UK cracking unit.

REMEMBER- Sabic is slimming down its business, having agreed to sell its Europeanpetrochemicals and engineering thermoplastics units in an SAR 3.6 bn (USD 950 mn) divestment.

Why it matters

The company is still grinding through a brutal downcycle. “The decline in sales revenues was attributed to a decline in the average selling prices for the company products that came despite an increase in the sales volume,” Al Awwal Capital Equity Research Consultant Hesham El Shebeini tells EnterpriseAM. The primary culprit is a flood of new production capacity in China that has depressed global utilization rates and curbed income margins. High interest rates and low oil prices further squeezed worldwide demand, El Shebeini added.

Sabic is taking the pain now to structurally improve its bottom line for the future. Dumping legacy European and American operations shields Sabic from regions plagued by structural energy shortages and strict carbon emission rules.

What comes next

A change in leadership: Abdulrahman Al Fageeh is stepping down as CEO to be replaced on 1 April by Faisal Al Faqeer (LinkedIn), an Aramco veteran with extensive experience in the refining and petrochemicals sectors.

The worst may be over for the Saudi petrochemical giant. Sabic is set to capture a major domestic feedstock advantage under Al Faqeer. “Jafurah gas project, which commenced operations recently, will increase Saudi daily production of ethane to 1.5 bcf/d, hence benefiting the Saudi petrochemicals industry,” El Shebeini points out. Combined with expected interest rate cuts and the exit of European competitors, the newly slimmed-down portfolio looks poised for a rebound.

The market seems to understand the logic: Sabic’s stock closed up 2.5% on Thursday following the announcement, signaling that the losses were already priced in.

ALSO- Sabic’s board will distribute SAR 4.5 bn in interim dividends for 2H 2025 at SAR 1.50 per share, it said in a disclosure. The distribution date is set for 31 March.