Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), the world's biggest petrochemicals group by market value, posted an 11.3 per cent rise in fourth quarter net profits on Saturday, but missed analyst forecasts.

Sabic said it enjoyed stronger sales and higher prices in the fourth quarter than it had in the year-earlier period, but its full-year profit fell despite a rise in overall sales.

Its full-year performance, with net income of SR24.7 billion ($6.59 billion), represented a fall of 15.5 per cent from 2011, when the company enjoyed successive quarters of record performance.

The chemicals, metals and fertilisers conglomerate earned net income of SR5.83 billion ($1.55 billion) in the three months ending December 31, compared to its profit of SR5.24 billion a year ago, it said in a bourse statement.

The fourth-quarter results marked a 7.6 per cent fall from its third quarter net earnings.

Five analysts polled by Reuters had forecast, on average, that Saudi Arabia's largest listed company would earn SR6.39 billion.

Sabic, 70 per cent state-owned, cited a "higher cost of sales and lower sales prices for certain products, despite higher sales and production volumes and reduction in financial charges" for its fall in 2012 net income.