Saudi petrochemicals giant SABIC third quarter profit drops 9.4%

Saudi petrochemicals giant SABIC, the Middle East's largest listed company, said Sunday its net profit in the third quarter dropped 9.4 percent due to a decline in the price of its products.

SABIC posted a net profit of 5.6 billion riyals ($1.49 billion) in the July to September period this year compared with 6.18 billion riyals in the same period of 2014, the firm said in a statement.

It did not provide an explanation for the price drop.

Net profit for the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. in the first nine months of the year also dropped 17.7 percent, the statement said.

Its net income in the three quarters of 2015 was 15.7 billion riyals compared to 19.1 billion riyals in the same period in 2014.

The oil-rich Gulf kingdom, a leading member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is suffering the consequences of the fall in crude oil prices, which have lost nearly half their value since June 2014.