Saudi Arabia's Yanbu National Petrochemical Co (Yansab) has proposed a cash dividend of SR1.5 ($0.4) per share for the second half of the year, it said in a statement.

The figure is lower than the SR2 riyals per share paid in the corresponding period of 2013, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Yansab, a subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), reported a 20.1 per cent drop in third-quarter net profit in October due to declining sales volumes. That was the fourth straight quarterly profit decline posted by the firm, although in line with analyst expectations.

Meanwhile, Yansab said it would be shutting its ethylene glycol plant in April next year for between 35 and 60 days for planned maintenance.

The financial impact on the company from the maintenance work was estimated to be around SR450 million ($119.9 million), which would be recorded in its second-quarter financials, it said in a bourse filing. - Reuters