RIYADH: Sahara International Petrochemical Co., known as Sipchem, has boosted its dividend payout by 133 percent after recording an 89 percent jump in profit for the first half of 2022. Profits of the petrochemical firm reached SR2.34 billion ($620 million), up from SR1.24 billion in the same period a year ago, according to a bourse filing. As a result, it announced a half-year dividend payout of SR1.27 billion, or SR1.75 per share – 133 percent higher than the amount distributed for the same period last year. Sipchem attributed the results to revenue growth of 28 percent, a decline in finance costs, as well as an increase in the share of profit from joint ventures. It added that an increase in selling prices of the company’s products led to a rise in gross profit, despite incurring higher feedstock costs.