RIYADH: Saudi oil giant Aramco is the most profitable company in the world, with profits over the last 12 months coming in at $279.4 billion, according to the calculations of the Companies Market Cap.

That figure is equal to the combined profits of Apple, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and Microsoft.

Apple, the leader among global companies in terms of market capitalization, ranked second in the profitability index, with profits of $120.5 billion during the 12 months ending last June.

It was followed by Alphabet, with profits of $85.7 billion.

Microsoft lagged behind, by a small difference, after it achieved profits of $83.7 billion.

The profits of Aramco's three closest competitors amounted to about $289.9 billion, a difference of only $10 billion, from the largest oil company in the world.

ExxonMobil came in eighth place with profits of $54.8 billion, followed by Shell in ninth place with profits of $54.4 billion.

With regard to the most profitable oil companies globally, other than Aramco, during the second quarter, ExxonMobil was in the ranking, followed by Chevron, Shell, Britain's BP, and France's Total.