Saudi Aramco is set to pay shareholders almost £100billion in dividends this year as the kingdom’s ruling family seeks funds to transform the economy.
The world’s largest oil producer said it expects to hand out £99billion in 2024 despite a 14 per cent fall in first quarter profits to £21.7billion.
The proposed dividend payments are 30 per cent higher than last year and will hand crown prince Mohammed bin Salman a war chest to fund a series of major projects.
The Saudi state owns 82 per cent of Aramco and is heavily dependent on the oil giant for its finances.
PIF, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, owns a further 16 per cent.
Ambitious: How Saudi Arabia’s desert megacity could look – one of a series of projects to make the kingdom’s economy less dependent on oil
The crown prince – who is known as MBS – is embarking on a series of projects to make the kingdom’s economy less dependent on oil.
These include investments in tourism, manufacturing and renewable energy as well as a 100-mile futuristic megacity.
Aramco also hiked dividends by around 30 per cent last year, raising payouts to £78billion after profits soared to the second highest level in the company’s history.
In the previous year, Aramco reported annual profits of £134billion – a record for any publicly-listed company in history – due to sky-high energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.