SAUDI Aramco was the world’s most profitable company in 2018, easily surpassing U.S. behemoths including Apple Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp., according to accounts published by ratings agencies before the firm’s debut in the international bond market.

Yet the Saudi kingdom’s influence on the state oil producer via high taxation is also denting its profitability and credit-worthiness, with cash generated per barrel below that of big oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc. That’s getting in the way of Aramco achieving a much higher credit rating.

Aramco generated net income of US$111.1 billion in 2018, Moody’s Investors Service said yesterday, after Fitch Ratings said the company had earnings before interest, tax and depreciation of US$224 billion last year — significantly above figures for Apple and Exxon Mobil. Both agencies gave the Saudi company’s debt their fifth-highest investment grade level.

The credit ratings, a first for Aramco, offer a glimpse into the accounts of the company, which have remained secret since its nationalization in the late 1970s. The information will help investors assess the possible value of a once-in-a-generation deal for financial markets: the firm’s proposed initial public offering, originally targeted for 2018 but last year delayed until 2021.

The company is preparing to raise debt in part to pay for the acquisition of a majority stake in domestic petro-chemical group Sabic, worth about US$69 billion. The deal is a Plan B to generate money for Saudi Arabia’s economic agenda after the IPO was postponed. (SD-Agencies)