Saudi SABIC Q1 profit rises 10 pct on Asian demand

RIYADH, April 19 (Reuters) - Saudi Basic Industries Corp 2010.SE (SABIC) said first-quarter profit rose 10 percent, its smallest quarterly gain in more than a year, as Asian demand for petrochemicals helped offset a slowdown in U.S. and European markets.

SABIC, the world's biggest chemicals firm by market value, made 6.92 billion riyals ($1.85 billion), or 2.31 riyals per share, in the three months ended March 31, it said in a statement on the bourse website.

That compared with 6.29 billion riyals, or an adjusted 2.10 riyals per share, in the year-earlier period.

The profit growth was smaller than the 28.6 percent forecast of KSB Capital Group in a Reuters net profit survey last month. Click on [ID:nL31665335] for details of the survey.

(Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Daliah Merzaban)