Aramco engineers at work. The company sold its stake in Malaysia's Pengerang complex to Petronas.
Aramco's third-quarter profit got a one-off boost of about $7 billion from selling its stake in a Malaysian refining complex, explaining most of the jump in its headline earnings.
Selling its interest in the Pengerang refinery to Malaysia's state energy company Petronas added around $7 billion to net income, Chief Financial Officer Ziad Al-Murshed said on an earnings call on Tuesday.
That's a gain of nearly 26 billion Riyal, Euronews reported.
What was sold: Aramco held half of both joint ventures at the Pengerang complex in southern Malaysia: a 300,000-barrel-a-day refinery and the petrochemical plant beside it.
It agreed in May to hand its stakes to Petronas on undisclosed terms, ending a partnership it entered in 2017 with a $7 billion commitment. Petronas now owns the complex outright.
Why it matters: without the gain, the quarter looks softer. Net income attributable to shareholders jumped 41% from a year earlier.
Adjusted profit, which strips out one-offs, rose 9% and was still about 7% below the second quarter, as reported earlier.
Why sell: "We continue to assess ways to optimize our portfolio," Al-Murshed said, calling the Malaysian exit an example.
Aramco still holds refining stakes abroad, including Motiva in the US, S-Oil and Hyundai Oilbank in South Korea, and assets in China, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said.
What to watch: whether more stake sales follow, and how Aramco uses the cash as it funds Humain and wartime repairs.
For more on what drove the quarter, read What's Behind Aramco's Profit Jump? Not Just Oil.
