Page 9 - DMEA Week 08 2023

DMEA COMPANIES DMEA

Luberef considers dividend

after announcing profit increase

SAUDI ARABIA SAUDI Aramco Base Oil Co. (Luberef) recorded Jeddah and Yanbu,” according to its website.
profits of SAR2bn ($530mn) after tax in 2022 During an interview ahead of the listing
prompting its board of directors to suggest a 50% Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, Aramco’s senior vice
cash dividend or SAR5 ($1.33) per share for the president of downstream, said: “As an integral
second half of the year. part of Saudi Arabia’s supply chain and a driving
In a statement to accompany its results, force in the Kingdom’s industrialisation ambi-
Luberef said that the net income was achieved tions, Luberef’s listing will provide an important
thanks to revenues of SAR10.6bn ($2.8bn), up strategic dimension to propel the company’s
from SAR8.8bn ($2.4bn) a year earlier. growth strategy and help realise its vision to be
“This increase is mainly driven by the the leading supplier of premium base oils and
improved base oil crack margins of 10% and [an] specialty products.”
increase in sales volumes by 6% compared to last He added: “[The company’s] growth tra-
year,” it said. jectory will unlock new opportunities for all
The company noted that EBITDA grew 20% stakeholders.”
over the same period, to SAR2.5bn ($669mn). Following the 2018 commissioning of a $1bn
The company was formed in 1976 as a 70:30 expansion of the latter, Luberef’s production was
JV between Aramco and US super-major Exx- more than doubled across its two facilities from
onMobil, before the American giant sold its 30% 550,000 tonnes per year to 1.2mn tpy.
stake to Jadwa Industrial Investment Co. in 2007. The Group II base oils facility at Yanbu’ is by
Jadwa sold its share in the company in far Luberef’s largest, with a capacity of 710,000
December 2022 when the company was listed tpy. The facility is home to a hydrocracker and
on the local Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), the units for wax isomerisation, hydrogen recovery,
Riyadh stock exchange, raising $1.32bn. sulphur recovery and gas treatment, as well as
The company produces “high-quality base a 40,000 barrel per day vacuum distillation unit
oil at an optimised grade mix from its two pro- (VDU) and a 12,500 bpd propane de-asphalting
duction facilities that are strategically located in unit.™

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