Move aside Apple. Saudi Aramco is by far the world most profitable company with gross earnings of $111.1 Billion in 2018.
The revelation comes as the company files for its debut international bond issuance of $10 billion following the steep climb of profits last year in sync with rising oil prices.
For purposes of comparison, Apple's earnings grew sharply to $60 billion in 2018 while Amazon took home $10 billion.
The company has an A1 rating from Moody’s (same as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) as it is owned by the Saudi government.
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One of the main reasons for the bond issue is to hike up the company’s credit rating as the cash-rich company itself is hardly in need of credit.
After the recent OPEC cuts, oil prices appear to be stabilizing in the near future.
The debt issue will be used to partly pay for the acquisition of a majority stake in domestic petrochemical group Sabic, which is worth about $69 billion.
To put Aramco’s 2018 profit numbers in context, in 2016, as oil prices plunged, the company’s income for the year had dipped to just $11 billion.
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