Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco reported today its full-year financial results for 2024, revealing a decline of 12.4 percent in net income to $106.2 billion from $121.3 billion in 2023.
Aramco attributed this decline to “lower prices and volumes sold of crude oil, as well as lower refined and chemical product prices. This was partially offset by higher volumes sold of refined and chemical products during the year.”
Despite the decline in include, the company’s board declared a base dividend of $21.1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024, a 4.2 percent annual increase. This dividend will be paid in Q1 2025, reflecting Aramco’s focus on delivering a sustainable and progressive dividend.
In a statement, the company also announced a performance-linked dividend of $0.2 billion to be paid in Q1 2025, in line with the previously announced mechanism. Aramco expects to pay a total dividend of $85.4 billion in 2025.
“Our strong net income and increased base dividend illustrate Aramco’s exceptional resilience and ability to leverage its unique scale, low cost, and high levels of reliability to deliver industry-leading performance for our shareholders and customers,” stated Aramco President & CEO Amin H. Nasser.
Earnings hit $206 billion
Aramco’s earnings before interest and taxes reached $206 billion in 2024, down from $231 billion a year earlier. The company’s cash flow from operating activities declined to $135.7 billion from $143.4 billion in 2023 while its free cash flow hit $85.3 billion.
It also made capital investments of $53.3 billion in 2024, including $50.4 billion in organic capex. Aramco expects capital investment in 2025 to reach $52 billion-$58 billion, excluding around $4 billion of project financing.
“Progress on track to deliver growth strategy across upstream and downstream, with potential additional operating cash flows of $9.0 billion to $10.0 billion from growth in Aramco’s upstream gas business, and $8.0 billion to $10.0 billion from growth in its downstream business, by 2030,” said Aramco in the statement.
The company also revealed that its spare capacity provides flexibility to help meet potential oil demand growth. If called upon, utilizing 1 million barrels per day of existing spare capacity could generate an additional $12 billion in operating cash flow based on 2024’s average price.
“Global oil demand reached new highs in 2024, and we expect further growth in 2025. With dependable and more sustainable energy key to global economic growth, we continue to make progress on projects to maintain our maximum sustainable crude oil capacity, expand our gas capabilities, achieve further integration of our upstream and downstream businesses to capture additional value, and help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions,” added Nasser.
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Three capital markets transactions attract notable investor interest
During 2024, Aramco was involved in three separate capital markets transactions that attracted considerable investor interest and further expanded its international investor base.
The first transaction saw the government complete a secondary public offering of 0.7 percent of the company’s issued shares in June 2024, which was the largest secondary offering in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in more than two decades. Following the offering, the Saudi government remained the company’s majority shareholder.
In the third quarter of 2024, Aramco completed a $6 billion international bond issuance, comprising three tranches of U.S. dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes with 10, 30, and 40-year maturities.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Aramco also completed a $3 billion international sukuk issuance comprising two U.S. dollar-denominated tranches maturing in 2029 and 2034. Both the international bond and the international sukuk were oversubscribed and are now listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market.
“We see the success of the secondary public offering and these issuances as an indication of the confidence of investors in both our current financial position and our long-term growth strategy,” stated Ziad Al Murshed, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Aramco.
