Sabic in biggest drop in five months after Q4

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) makes its largest drop in five months after the petrochemical producer's quarterly profit missed estimates, with investors little moved by its expectations for higher sales in 2011. Sabic falls 3.2 per cent, its biggest drop since August 7 and second straight decline following Monday's 28-month high.

Sabic, the largest company on the Saudi bourse, reported a 27 per cent rise in quarterly profit to 5.81 billion riyals ($1.55 billion). Analysts had forecast the state-linked firm would make 5.87bn riyals. "Overall, a quarter-on-quarter operating profit increase of 11.5 per cent seems a notch lower than expectations given robust Yansab and Safco performance," says Ankit Gupta, senior research analyst at Securities & Investment Co (Sico) in Bahrain. On, Wednesday, Sabic said it expects higher sales and profitability in 2011 and 2012 as production increases and petrochemical prices rise to pre-crisis levels. Saudi Arabia's index drops 0.9 percent to a two-week low of 6,658 points. Yanbu National Petrochemical Co (Yansab) reported a fourth-quarter profit of 554.76 million riyals, topping analysts' estimates. Its shares drop 0.4 percent. Saudi Arabian Fertilisers Co's (Safco) quarterly profit nearly tripled, buoyed by higher prices. Its shares climb 0.4 per cent to a 28-month high.