profit Archives

Bahrain’s Mumtalakat posts record profit with strategic shift

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, reported a record profit of $963 million in 2024, reversing a significant loss from the previous year.

The turnaround was driven by McLaren Group’s restructuring and a partnership with Abu Dhabi-backed CYVN Holding, the sovereign said.

“The past year marked a major period of change for Mumtalakat, as we repositioned for long-term growth,” said Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of the sovereign fund, Arabian Gulf Business Insights reported.

Simultaneously, revenue rose to about $5.8 billion, while profits from Aluminium Bahrain surged and earnings from the National Bank of Bahrain also edged up, though telecom profits dipped slightly.

The fund, which manages $18 billion in assets, has recently shifted focus to local investments and signed regional deals in green energy and healthcare.

Despite the turnaround, S&P revised its outlook on Mumtalakat to negative, mirroring concerns over Bahrain’s fiscal outlook.

Saudi Aramco to pay $31 billion dividend as kingdom seeks to plug budget gap

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, will distribute $31 billion in dividends despite a decline in first-quarter profit.

The payout is critical to the Saudi government, which owns 82% of the company and has reported a deficit for the sixth straight quarter.

The kingdom’s budget gap has forced a slowdown in the pace of building NEOM and other ambitious construction projects.

Aramco reported that first-quarter net income declined 14% to $27.3 billion, down from $31.9 billion a year earlier.

The company declared base dividend payouts for the first quarter totalling $20.3 billion and a performance-linked dividend distribution of $10.8 billion to be paid in the second quarter.

Saudi Arabia has pushed other oil producers to cut their output and keep oil prices high amid concerns about rising U.S. production creating surplus supply.