) has delayed the planned launch of its initial public offering , as the giant oil company wants to update investors with its latest earnings before proceeding, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
However, after a Sept. 14 attack on its Abqaiq and Khurais plants knocked out half the crude output of the world’s top exporter, Aramco wants to reassure investors by presenting results covering the period, the two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. The Financial Times, which initially reported the IPO delay, cited a source as saying the listing has been delayed by “weeks”.
Earlier this month, Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said Saudi Arabia had fully restored oil output, which allowed it to focus on the IPO. The prospect of the world’s largest oil company selling a piece of itself has had Wall Street on tenterhooks since Crown Prince Mohammed first flagged it three years ago.