Saudi Aramco remains world’s most profitable company even as oil falls
8/14/2019 2:34:03 PM
CPI FINANCIAL
The state-owned energy giant said that its profit slid 12 per cent to $46.9 billion in H1 2019, that easily outstripped corporate titans such as Apple, Amazon.com and other big oil producers, many of which suffered larger declines in profit as output and crude prices fell.


Saudi Aramco showed that the state-owned oil company is still the world’s most profitable company—and paid out almost all its net income in dividends—despite the dwindling price of oil, reported Bloomberg.

Khalid Al-Dabbagh, Saudi Aramco’s Senior Vice President for Finance, Strategy and Development, sai, “We have some of the largest and most productive reservoirs on Earth, the company’s unrivalled financial results amid lower oil prices are a testament to our resilience.”

Saudi Aramco paid out $46.4 billion in dividends in the first half, that included a $20 billion special pay-out to the Saudi government—which compares with a $6 billion pay-out last year. A figure analyst said it is of particular interest to potential investors ahead of an initial public offering planned for 2020 or 2021.

The Kingdom wants to raise a record $100 billion from selling a five per cent stake in Saudi Aramco, which would make it the biggest IPO in history and a windfall for any banks that win a role. Saudi Arabia has valued the company at a whopping $2 trillion, though the firm’s 2018 financials indicated a valuation to $1.2 trillion.

The plans for an IPO were announced three years ago, but the sale was delayed to allow the company to acquire chemicals giant SABIC.