Aramco cuts dividend as Saudi budget pressures mount
Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, is slashing dividend payouts in the face of Saudi Arabia’s growing budget troubles.
The company, which is majority-owned by the Saudi government, said it expects to declare total dividends of $85.4 billion this year, a nearly 30% drop from the $124 billion distributed to shareholders in 2024.
Revenue from Aramco has long enabled the kingdom to contain its fiscal deficits but cuts in production over the past two years have crimped the company’s oil sales.
Aramco said its net profit fell over 12% to $106.2 billion in 2024, blaming a decline in revenue and higher operating costs.
The company’s action will most likely also affect debt issuances by Saudi Arabia, whose nearly $15 billion in bond sales this year make it the biggest borrower in emerging markets, the news agency said.
Crude sales and Aramco’s large annual payouts are central to funding Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 economic overhaul plan. The level of the dividend’s distribution, however, has grown beyond the company’s earnings and dried up the $27 billion in net cash it had just over a year ago.
Aramco’s profit has declined year-on-year for seven consecutive quarters, and analysts are forecasting another drop in the fourth quarter. The company’s shares have declined 3% this year.
Saudi Arabia to deepen deficit amid foreign investment shortfall
Saudi Arabia is slipping deeper into deficit spending mode amid slowing growth in revenue from international investment and cutbacks in oil production.
Finance Ministry figures released on Monday show the kingdom’s 2024 deficit growing by almost 50% to $32 billion from projections made last December and reaching 2.9% of GDP.
The forecast buttresses earlier government statements that some of the banner construction projects it plans will have to be slowed down because of revenue shortfalls.
Saudi Arabia is having trouble meeting its goals for foreign direct investment, which at $9.7 billion was roughly the same in the first six months of 2024 as in the same period last year.
The government has set a target of $100 billion in FDI annually by 2030, about three times more than its previous high.
Bank of Singapore seeks to double Middle East wealth business
Bank of Singapore is betting on the Middle East.
The Asian lender aims to double its business in the region to about 20% of its overall revenue and private banking assets over the next three to five years, Ranjit Khanna, Bank of Singapore’s head of private banking for Europe and the Middle East and chief executive for its Dubai hub, told Reuters in an interview.
“UAE and in particular Dubai have become key destinations for global millionaires post-COVID,” Khanna said.
Bank of Singapore is among a growing number of Asian financial firms that have set up offices in the UAE to capitalize on warming ties between China and the Middle East.
“I personally believe the next decade, in the context of wealth management, belongs to Asia and the Middle East to a great extent,” Khanna said.
