Petro Rabigh swings to $1.8bn profit after 2025 losses
Petro Rabigh posted a 6.702 billion riyal nine-month profit versus a 3.292 billion riyal loss.
· Last verified: 28 Oct 2026 (Saudi Exchange (Petro Rabigh disclosure), Attaqa)
Summary
- Petro Rabigh posted a 6.702 billion riyal nine-month profit versus a 3.292 billion riyal loss.
- Revenue more than doubled to 52.032 billion riyals as plant utilization and refining margins recovered.
- The turnaround reprices Aramco's largest refining joint venture and signals firmer Saudi downstream margins.
The latest
Petro Rabigh swung to a net profit of 6.702 billion riyals in the first nine months of 2026, erasing a 3.292 billion riyal loss a year earlier, according to its filing on the Saudi Exchange. Revenue rose 113.6% to 52.032 billion riyals. The company attributed the reversal to higher operating rates, larger sales volumes and improved refined-product margins.
Details
- The headline numbers: Nine-month net profit reached 6.702 billion riyals against a 3.292 billion riyal net loss in the same period of 2025, according to the Saudi Exchange disclosure. Revenue climbed 113.6% to 52.032 billion riyals from 24.356 billion riyals, more than doubling year on year.
- Earnings per share: The refiner reported earnings of 4.01 riyals per share for the nine months, reversing a loss of 1.97 riyals per share in the comparable period of 2025. The swing of nearly 6 riyals per share is the clearest measure of how sharply the company's position changed.
- Third quarter: Net profit for the third quarter came in at 2.576 billion riyals, against a net loss of 1.236 billion riyals in the third quarter of 2025. Quarterly revenue rose 82.9% to 16.815 billion riyals from 9.195 billion riyals.
- The sequential dip: Third-quarter profit fell 3.2% from the 2.661 billion riyals recorded in the second quarter of 2026, and revenue dropped 17.4% quarter on quarter. The company tied the decline to lower sales volumes caused by geopolitical disruptions, partly offset by stronger margins.
- What drove the quarter: Petro Rabigh credited the third-quarter turnaround to higher sales volumes, improved plant operating rates, better refined-product margins, and lower financing costs following early repayment of part of its long-term loans alongside a decline in benchmark interest rates.
- The comparison base: The nine-month swing was flattered by a weak prior year: the 2025 comparison period was hit by a comprehensive scheduled maintenance shutdown lasting roughly 60 days, which suppressed both output and sales volumes across the complex.
- Balance-sheet signal: The early repayment of part of the long-term debt is the first operational lever the company named beyond margins and volumes, cutting financing costs at a time when benchmark rates were already easing. The filing did not specify the size of the repaid tranche.
- The disclosure: The results were published through Petro Rabigh's financial-results announcement on the Saudi Exchange on 28 October 2026, and reported by Attaqa. The company did not issue a forward guidance figure alongside the statement.
Background
Petro Rabigh is the refining and petrochemicals complex on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast operated as a joint venture involving Saudi Aramco. It posted heavy losses through 2025, a year marked by a prolonged scheduled maintenance shutdown that took the plant offline for roughly 60 days.
Between the lines
The company itself flagged the fragility beneath the headline: volumes fell sequentially on geopolitical disruption, and only stronger margins kept quarterly profit near second-quarter levels. That makes the recovery margin-led as much as volume-led. The 2025 maintenance shutdown also inflates the year-on-year comparison, meaning the nine-month swing overstates the underlying operational improvement.
What's next
Fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results will show whether margins can hold without the weak 2025 base. Watch sales volumes for further geopolitical disruption, and any disclosure on additional early debt repayment.