Saudi Arabia's Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (Yansab), an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, said net loss widened to 161.3 million Saudi riyals ($43 million) in Q3 2023 from loss of SAR 61 million a year earlier.

The result came in far above analysts’ mean estimate of net loss at SAR 89.5 million, according to LSEG data.

The net loss was driven by lower production and sales due to the temporary shutdown of plants in August 2023, it said in a statement on Riyadh's Tadawul exchange on Monday.

Revenue declined 31% year-on-year to SAR 1.098 billion.

In addition, Yansab said average sales prices for some of the products, although production costs for some inputs declined. The average sales prices declined by 2% compared to the same quarter of 2022, while sales volumes decreased by 30% YoY.

The petrochemical major turned to a net loss of SAR 503.6 million in the first nine months of 2023 compared to a net profit of SAR 510.6 million in the same period last year on lower production from scheduled plant maintenance.

In June, Yansab announced a dividend payout of SAR 562.50 million for the first half of 2023.      

(Editing by Brinda Darasha; brinda.darasha@lseg.com)