Saudi Aramco  generated $111.1bn in net income five times that of Rival Royal Dutch Shell

Saudi Aramco’s bond sale for the first time reveals the Kingdom’s state oil group generated more profits last year than any other company in the world, a financial performance it has kept secret for three-quarters of a century.

The results showed it generated $111.1bn in net income last year, almost double that of Apple and five times that of rival oil producer Royal Dutch Shell.

The company decided to tap public debt markets to raise funds for its recent $69bn purchase of Sabic, the Saudi Petrochemicals company. The sale expected to raise $10bn, will provide a test of fund managers’ willingness to back a company that is fundamentally connected to the development of Saudi State.

The government in Riyadh relied on the oil sector for 65 per cent of its total revenue in 2017.  The oil company approximately made $26 a barrel last year compared with $38 a barrel for Royal Dutch Shell and $31 a barrel for France’s Total. In 2018 Saudi  Aramco generated $224bn of earnings before interest, tax and depreciation and amortisation.