Oil giant Saudi Aramco reports $31.88B profit in 1st quarter

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) announced a first-quarter profit on Tuesday of $31.88bn, down from $39.47bn for the same quarter last year, citing lower oil prices. Its 2018 earnings of $161bn were claimed as the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed firm. However, these numbers drew criticism from climate change activists. Aramco stock traded at $9.55 a share on the Riyadh stock exchange on Monday, putting the oil firm’s market capitalisation at $2.1tn, behind only Apple and Microsoft.