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Saudi Aramco to pay $ 75 billion in dividends despite earnings slump

Unlike rival companies like BP and Shell, Aramco maintains dividends in the second quarter of the year.

Saudi Arabia’s state oil company is pushing ahead with a plan to pay $ 75 billion in dividends this year, despite slumping profits and rising debt, as the country faces a growing budget deficit, it reports. Bloomberg.

Saudi Aramco, recently dethroned by Apple as the highest valued company in the market, has announced that its net income in the second quarter of the year reached 24.6 billion riyals ($ 6.6 billion), which represents a drop of 73% compared to with the same period of 2019.

However, Aramco, whose shares fell 6.2% this year, has maintained the dividend for this period, something that rivals such as BP and Shell have not been able to do. In total, in the second quarter the Saudi company will pay a dividend of $ 18.75 billion, most of it to the government, which holds 98% of the company’s shares. In the global of the year, the company has announced its “intention to pay 75,000 million, subject to the approval of the council, and of the market conditions”.

The results cap off a turbulent period for the largest oil exporter of the world. Despite efforts by the OPEC countries and their partners (led by Saudi Arabia and Russia) to prop up crude prices, Brent is down 33% this year.

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