#Saudi Aramco leaves questions for potential investors | Financial Times

Saudi Aramco leaves questions for potential investors | Financial Times:

Saudi Aramco might have lifted the lid on its financials to reveal profits that dwarf even the largest energy majors, but future investors in the state oil company — should it ever go public — still have a number of unanswered questions.

The company’s first international bond prospectus revealed net income of $111bn last year — more than Apple and Alphabet made combined in 2018 — and enough cash on hand to assuage any doubts about its ability to finance the $69bn purchase of Sabic, the state-backed petrochemical company.

However, if Aramco wants to position itself as a supersized rival to the likes of Royal Dutch Shell or ExxonMobil — and keep alive its ambition of going public — investors will want to learn about more than just the profits at the company. They will also want to know how much it needs to spend on everything from investments to government payments.