Saudi Aramco reported a 3.4% decrease in its second-quarter profit, attributed to lower crude oil volumes and softer refining margins. The oil giant’s net income for the three months ending June 30 reached 109.01 billion riyals ($29.03 billion), surpassing analysts’ median estimate of $27.7 billion.
Despite the profit dip, Aramco has kept its dividend policy unchanged, announcing a payout of $31.1 billion for the quarter, which includes $10.8 billion in performance-linked dividends introduced last year. This performance-linked component is calculated based on a percentage of annual free cash flow, net of the base dividend.
Aramco remains a crucial revenue source for Saudi Arabia, which is investing heavily in its Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy away from oil dependency. The company expects total dividends of $124.2 billion in 2024, in line with previous guidance.
Chief Financial Officer Ziad Al-Murshed indicated that the performance-linked dividends for this year are based on combined results from 2022 and 2023, while future payments will be based solely on the preceding year’s performance.