British officials say Aramco IPO could be delayed until 2019

Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO) is unlikely to go ahead this year and could hit the market in the first half of 2019, Financial Times reported, citing British officials who were informed by their Saudi counterparts.

"If Riyadh decided to list abroad they expected a domestic and foreign listing to take place around the same time," unnamed UK officials told the daily.

The probable listing could take place in the first or second quarter of 2019, the report said.

Last week, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih hinted in an interview with Bloomberg that Aramco's IPO could be pushed into next year.  

“Between December 31st and January 1st there is no value lost for the kingdom. So, I don’t see this artificial deadline that you refer to as being significant,” he said, adding that the IPO will happen and the anchor market will be the Tadawul.

However, Saudi Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser said at a conference of British and Saudi business leaders last Thursday in London that all preparatory work required from the company would be completed in the latter half of 2018.   

While several international bourses are vying for the IPO, including New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Toronto, informed sources told Financial Times that London still had a “good chance of securing the listing”.

Saudi Arabia plans to sell a 5 percent stake in Aramco in an IPO expected to raise $100 billion and valuing the world's largest energy producer and exporter at $2 trillion.