RIYADH - Saudi Basic Industries Corp took a maximum hit from the new coronavirus in its second quarter but business conditions are improving in the third, its chief executive said on Thursday.

Still, CEO Yousef al-Benyan cautioned that the outlook for the second half remained similar to the first half, citing lower economic growth globally, lower oil prices and weaker demand.

"We have seen slight improvement at the start of Q3, hopefully this is something positive, but other challenges still persist," he told an earnings briefing after SABIC reported its third straight quarterly loss.

 

(Reporting by Marwa Rashad; writing by Saeed Azhar; editing by Jason Neely) ((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +971 44536787; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))