Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), one of the world's top chemical firms by market value, posted a 76 per cent drop in second-quarter net profit and blamed the drop on lower petrochemicals and metals prices.

Sabic made a net profit of SR1.81 billion ($482.7 million) in the three months to June 30, 2009 down from SR7.55 billion a year earlier, it said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse's website.

'The decline in second-quarter net profit is due to a sharp decrease in the prices of petrochemicals, plastics and minerals because of the global financial and economic crisis,' it said.

In addition to petrochemicals, Sabic owns Hadeed, Saudi Arabia's largest steel maker. Sabic said sales volume in the six months to June 30 stood at 22.9 million tonnes, which is 2 percent above the same period in 2008. It did not give figures for the second quarter.

Based on the firm's first-quarter earnings announcement, the volume of sales in the second quarter stood at 11.37 million tonnes down from 11.47 million tonnes a year earlier.

The firm shocked investors when it reported a net loss of 974 million riyals in the first quarter of 2009.  Earnings per share at the end of the first six months of 22009 stood at 0.28 riyals down from SR4.82 a year earlier, it said.

Operating profit in the second quarter stood at 4.08 billion riyals down from 12.14 billion riyals a year earlier. Sabic's 42.9 per cent holding in Saudi Fertilizers Company's (Safco) has yielded it SR536.3 million riyals in dividends at the end of June.

Analysts polled by Reuters have expected Sabic to post an average 78 per cent drop in second-quarter profit.-Reuters