First quarter earnings reported by Saudi Arabia’s 14 Tadawul-listed petrochemicals companies show continued damage from the recent oil price slide. Companies are investing for the upturn, however, in this “cyclical” market.

Petrochemicals companies listed on the Saudi stock exchange report combined earnings of SR4.37bn ($1.17bn) in the first quarter of 2015, down by 53.1% on the same period last year and 31.4% lower than for the fourth quarter of 2014. (CONTINUED - 710 WORDS)