Saudi Arabia’s national oil company appears to have pushed back the launch date for its initial public offering (IPO) of stock yet again. The Financial Times quoted an anonymous source as saying on October 17 that Saudi Aramco had postponed the stock issue by “weeks,” and Reuters cited two of its own sources as saying on the same day that Saudi Aramco wanted more time to prepare.
Reuters’ sources stated that the company did not want to proceed until it could present an updated earnings report. Saudi Aramco is keen to show that its performance remained strong in the wake of the September 14 drone attacks on major oil infrastructure, they said.
“They want to do all they can to hit the valuation target, so solid results after the attack will give them a stronger position,” one source explained.
Saudi Aramco is the largest oil operator in the world. Company representatives had said previously that the aerial attacks, which cause a temporary dip of 5.7 million barrels per day in Saudi crude output, would not affect the schedule for the IPO.