First Saudi Aramco topples the iPhone maker as the world's most valuable company, then the world's largest oil-producing company delivers fantastic first-quarter figures. The reason is the war in Ukraine and the associated increased demand for the raw material.

The oil giant Saudi Aramco increased its profits in the first quarter thanks to the high energy prices: the bottom line was 39.5 billion dollars (almost 38 billion euros), an increase of 82 percent compared to the same period last year, as the group announced. On Thursday, Saudi Aramco dethroned iPhone maker Apple as the most valuable company in the world.

The partially state-owned Saudi Arabian company is the largest oil-producing company in the world. It was valued at $2.42 trillion based on the stock price at the close on Wednesday. At the same time, the stock market value of the US technology group Apple fell to $2.37 trillion.

Saudi Aramco had already doubled corporate profits in 2021: to $110 billion. The demand for oil rose sharply after the corona pandemic; the Russian invasion of the Ukraine has once again boosted demand.

In recent months, however, the group has had to struggle with interruptions caused by attacks by the Houthi rebels from Yemen on Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure. In addition, the currently rising inflation could lead to a reduction in consumer spending - and thus also reduce oil demand.

Saudi Arabia has been trying to become less dependent on oil for several years. At the end of 2019, the state sold a small part of Saudi Aramco via an IPO and raised over $29 billion at the time, which was to go into major projects.