Sahara International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) incurred losses of 52.8 million riyals during the first quarter of 2020 after it recorded profits of 114.7 million riyals in the first quarter of 2019.

According to ArabiaNet, the loss per share was 0.07 riyals compared to earnings per share of 0.31 riyals in the same quarter of last year.

Sipchem, in its statement of preliminary financial results for the period ending March 31, 2020 (three months), mentioned the reasons for its transformation into a loss in the first quarter of the current year according to the following: :

Lower sales prices for most of the company's products.

Low production quantities due to scheduled and unscheduled maintenance at Al-Waha Petrochemical Company as previously announced on Tadawul website.

A loss of impairment of the assets of the International Company, Diol, at a value of 100 million riyals.

A loss of impairment of an asset's value as a result of classifying specific assets in the corporate and other sectors as held for sale for a value of 180 million riyals.

The net loss of Sipchem during the current quarter also includes the results of the Sahara Petrochemical Company, unlike the corresponding quarter of the previous year, which does not include the results of the Sahara Petrochemical Company.

The decrease comes despite the increase in sales quantities of methanol, as a result of the project to raise energy efficiency and improve the performance of the methanol plant, in addition to the relatively low average prices of some feedstock prices. p>