Saudi Aramco is preparing for the first time to publish financial statements in preparation for the initial public offering, planned for 2018, The Financial Times writes.
According to the newspaper’s sources, the financial statements of the state-owned Saudi oil corporation for the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years may be made public in the 2017 calendar year.
In contrast to the production data, which appeared in the annual report, Saudi Aramco previously never published financial results. In 2015, the company produced 10.2 million barrels of oil per day. Analysts estimate that its annual revenues before the sharp fall in oil prices in 2014 could be higher than those of Microsoft and Apple combined.
The difficulty is how to divide information about Saudi Aramco’s relevant operations and its non-core activities. The state corporation is closely connected with the state and is one of the largest employers in the country, which imposes a number of additional functions, including the construction of schools and stadiums, clinics and hospitals.
The principal consultants of Saudi Aramco are JP Morgan Chase & Co. and former Citi banker Michael Klein.
* The company was founded in 1933 as a result of the concession agreement of the government of Saudi Arabia with the US oil company Standard Oil of California. Full government control of the company was achieved by gradual redemption of its shares in 1980. In November 1988, the company changed its name from Arabian American Oil Company to Saudi Arabian Oil Company, or Saudi Aramco.