Saudi Aramco is forecast to have no performance-linked dividend this year after a more balanced 2024 cash cycle followed earlier bumper results that backed the special payout, JPMorgan said in a research note.
“The past 18 months has delivered elevated performance-linked dividends funded by premium 2022-23 financials and we remind this cycle ends with year-end 2024. For 2025, we forecast no special distributions following a more balanced 2024 cash cycle,” the note said.
Aramco, which reports its 2024 results on March 4, has said it expects to declare total dividends of $124.3 billion for 2024, of which $43.1 billion would be performance-linked dividends.
The Saudi government, which directly holds nearly 81.5 percent of Aramco, relies on the company’s payouts, which also include royalties and taxes.
Its sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) holds another 16 percent of Aramco and also benefits from its dividends as PIF spends tens of billions of dollars to try to steer the economy away from oil.
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