Saudi Aramco Earnings Call Underscores Government Ties - Bloomberg

Saudi Aramco Earnings Call Underscores Government Ties - Bloomberg:

Congratulations Saudi Aramco investors: You bought a country.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. hosted its first ever earnings call as a public company on an even tougher-than-usual Monday morning (New York time). The results themselves weren’t bad; with $88 billion of net income, it is perhaps no wonder the great-quarter-guys statements from some analysts were more elaborate than usual.

But 2019 is, of course, so last year at this point.

Aramco, as it likes to point out, is different from other oil companies. Chiefly, it is much bigger, which is helpful in this industry. But the other key difference is that it happens to be roughly 98% owned by the government of Saudi Arabia. This salient point defined the company’s listing, with it (the big shareholder I mean) choosing to maximize headline valuation rather than capital markets access by keeping the float in Riyadh. Early on Monday’s call, there was the obligatory shout out for “the largest [IPO] the world has ever seen” and I was reminded of that line from “This is Spinal Tap” where the titular group is hailed as “Britain’s loudest band.”