Saudi Arabia’s national oil company was the most profitable company on the planet in 2018, according to a new report.
Citing data from Fitch Ratings, Bloomberg News reported Sunday that Saudi Arabian Oil Co. — known as Aramco — generated a whopping $224 billion last year, before interest, tax and depreciation.
Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.65% was a distant second, with $82 billion, followed by South Korea’s Samsung Electronics 005930, +0.67% , Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A, -0.08% , Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, +0.39% GOOG, +0.41% and Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, +0.07% , Bloomberg reported.
An expected initial public offering by Aramco didn’t happen last year, but Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly said in October that the oil giant would go public by 2021, with an expected valuation around $2 trillion.
The Fitch report was a rare look at Aramco’s secretive finances, and comes ahead of a $10 billion bond offering for the company that may come as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Fitch rated Armaco A+ for its first-ever debt issuance.
