Saudi energy company Aramco, reporting for 2024, announced a significant reduction in the size of dividends. This decision will deal a serious blow to the budget of Saudi Arabia, notes Bloomberg.
At the end of 2024, Aramco’s net profit decreased from $121.3 billion to $106.2 billion, and free cash flow fell by almost 16% to $85.3 billion. Based on this, the company’s management decided to reduce dividend payments. If in 2024 Aramco paid shareholders $124 billion, then this year the company intends to limit itself to paying only $85.4 billion. Moreover, almost all of this amount is basic dividends, while payments tied to financial indicators will amount to about $1 billion – against $43 billion paid in 2024.
Considering that Aramco’s main shareholder is the Saudi Arabian government, with a 97.5% stake in the company’s share capital, the country’s budget will lose more than $30 billion in 2025.
