UPDATE 1-SABIC posts Q4 loss of $192 mln on writedown at affiliate, lower selling prices - Agricultural Commodities - Reuters

UPDATE 1-SABIC posts Q4 loss of $192 mln on writedown at affiliate, lower selling prices - Agricultural Commodities - Reuters:

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world’s fourth-biggest petrochemicals firm, posted a fourth-quarter net loss, the first quarterly loss in over a decade, due to lower average selling prices and a writedown at an affiliate.

SABIC swung to the loss of 720 million riyals ($192 million), compared to a profit of 3.22 billion riyals during the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in a bourse filing on Wednesday.

“Despite an uptick in Brent oil prices in the fourth quarter, the results were negatively impacted by a further decline in petrochemical prices driven by oversupply in the key products and slowing global growth coupled with seasonal impacts,” SABIC said.

Yousef Husseini, an analyst at EFG Hermes, said the last time SABIC suffered a quarterly loss was in the first quarter of 2009, and he predicted 2020 will be a tough year.