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Here’s who has just overtaken Apple as the world’s most profitable company

Lucy Dean
Image: Getty
Image: Getty

It’s called “liquid gold” and for Saudi Arabian oil firm and newly-crowned world’s most profitable company, Saudi Aramco, nothing could be closer to the truth.

Saudi oil company Saudi Aramco has toppled Apple from its position as the world’s most profitable company, a note from Moody’s remarking on Aramco’s US$111 billion (A$156.34 billion) 2018 profit confirmed this week.

While that figure is notable alone, it’s even more staggering given Apple made US$59.4 billion over the same period.

Royal Dutch Shell made US$23.9 billion (A$33.66 billion) in income, and Exxon Mobil made US$20.8 billion.

Aramco had previously been limited in profit disclosure by its Saudi Arabian home nation, something Moody’s commented on while issuing the firm an A1 rating.

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“Saudi Aramco has many characteristics of a Aaa-rated corporate, with minimal debt relative to cash flows, large scale of production, market leadership and access in Saudi Arabia to one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves,” said Rehan Akbar, vice president – senior credit officer at Moody’s.

“These features position it favourably against the strongest oil and gas companies that Moody’s rates.”

The final rating is however constrained by the government of Saudi Arabia’s A1 rating because of the close interlinkages between the sovereign and the company.

Moody’s said links between the Saudi Arabian government and the company are so significant that it tied the firm’s ratings to that received by the government.

The company is completely owned by the Saudi Arabian government, and benefits from exclusive access to most of Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas reserves.

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