Abu Dhabi (AFP)
The oil giant Aramco is "ready for IPO" but "the decision is the responsibility of the government," said Tuesday the CEO of the Saudi public company Amin Nasser, at a conference of producing countries in Abu Dhabi .
"One of the first listing activities (+ listing +) will be local but we are also ready for foreigners," added Nasser, while the company's IPO was postponed due to unfavorable market.
The US newspaper Wall Street Journal reported last week that Aramco was planning to make its debut in the domestic market, and that the company would eventually enter the international stock market, citing Tokyo.
The Saudi juggernaut is planning to float about 5% of the state-owned enterprise in 2020 or 2021 in what could be the largest stock sale in the world.
This future IPO is the cornerstone of a reform program initiated by the powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to wean the Saudi economy from its dependence on oil.
Placing Aramco's 5% on the market is expected to bring in $ 100 billion (90 billion euros), although experts are skeptical about the company's global valuation of 2,000 billion dollars (1,811 billion euros) .
The difficulty of reaching the amount desired by the Saudi authorities is widely considered as the reason for the postponement of the IPO, originally scheduled for 2018.
Earlier this month, Aramco said its net profit for the first half of 2019 dropped nearly 12 percent to $ 46.9 billion, or 42.4 billion euros, as a result of price of crude.
It was the first time the company had released half-yearly financial results a few months after unveiling its accounts for the first time in April, proving to be the most profitable company in the world.
© 2019 AFP