DUBAI (Reuters) – Oil giant Saudi Aramco on Tuesday reported a 3.4% drop in second-quarter profit due to lower crude oil volumes and softer refining margins.
Aramco reported second-quarter net profit of 109.01 billion riyals ($29.03 billion) for the three months ended June 30, beating the median estimate given to the company by 15 analysts of $27.7 billion.
Dividends of US$31.1 billion were declared for the second quarter, including US$10.8 billion in performance-linked payments. Aramco introduced performance-linked dividends last year, in addition to a basic dividend that is paid regardless of results, an unusual practice among listed companies.
Aramco said Tuesday it expects $124.2 billion in total dividends in 2024, roughly in line with previous guidance of $124.3 billion.
The Saudi government owns almost 81.5% of Aramco and relies heavily on the company’s payments, which include royalties and taxes. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF holds another 16% of Aramco and also benefits from its dividends.
($1 = 3.7545 riyals)
(Reporting by Yousef Saba and Sarah El Safty; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Tom Hogue)
