Saudi Aramco net revenues double to $110bn on surging oil demand

Saudi Aramco net revenues double to $110bn on surging oil demand

Saudi Aramco has reported its highest annual earnings since an initial public offering in 2019, as the world’s biggest oil exporter cashed in on resurgent energy demand.

Net income more than doubled in 2021 to $110bn, the company said on Sunday, and it maintained its full-year cash dividend — one of the biggest in the world — at $75bn. Analysts had forecast net income of $109.7bn, according to an average compiled by the company.

The state-backed group, which had reported earnings of $49bn a year earlier, said the 124 per cent increase was driven by “higher crude oil prices, stronger refining and chemicals margins and the consolidation of SABIC’s full-year results”. The company acquired a 70 per cent stake in Sabic, the Saudi petrochemicals company, in 2020.

The dividend included $18.8bn for the fourth quarter to be paid before the end of March. The payment is a vital source of revenue for the Saudi government, which owns 98 per cent of Saudi Aramco stock after a small portion of the company’s shares were listed in December 2019.

The company also said it would distribute $4bn in bonus shares to existing shareholders.

Gearing, which the company defines as a measure of the degree to which operations