In an interview with Argaam, SABIC’s CEO Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan stated that the company has performed well in 4Q16 on the back of a solid operational performance despite the challenging industry conditions. He mentioned that SABIC reduced its costs by 12% in 2016, which supported the company’s operations. He added that Ibn Rushd  (SABIC’s subsidiary) saw a better performance in 2016 as losses decreased 80%. SABIC has restructured its steel division which helped bring down its cost, according to Al-Benyan. He noted that the company is not planning to increase its debt for the time being contrary to recent reports about SABIC seeking to obtain a USD2bn loan. The company is planning to increase its competitive advantage by: i) restructuring existing divisions to increase productivity and efficiency ; ii) focusing on R&D; iii) expanding through building new projects and penetrating new markets (Asia, US, and more focus on Africa). Al-Benyan expects that oil will trade at USD54-USD55. Finally, SABIC’s CEO mentioned that the company has reduced its dividend in 2016 as part of pursuing growth by further investing in the company and that the it will not halt any of its ongoing projects in the coming period. (Argaam)   SABIC: SAR92.86 as of 19 Jan 2017, Rating: Neutral, TP: SAR90.00/share, MCap: USD74,288mn, SABIC AB / 2010.SE