Saudi Aramco reports $42bn quarterly profit

Saudi Aramco reports $42bn quarterly profit

Saudi Aramco reported its second-highest quarterly profits since listing its shares in 2019, as the world’s biggest oil exporter reaps a windfall from high energy prices.

Net income at the state-controlled group was $42.4bn in the three months to September, up 39 per cent from the same quarter a year ago. Although the earnings were down from the record $48.4bn reported in the second quarter, Saudi Aramco has now reported profits of more than $130bn in the first nine months of the year.

As in previous quarters, $18.8bn in dividends, one of the biggest payouts in the world, will be returned to shareholders from the third-quarter profits.

The Saudi Arabian government directly owns 94 per cent of Saudi Aramco stock. It listed just under 2 per cent of the company’s shares in December 2019 and passed another 4 per cent to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund this year.

The dividend payment is a vital source of revenue for the Gulf kingdom, which has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of soaring oil and gas prices due to the disruption in energy markets caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia last month led a 2mn barrel per day production cut among members of Opec+ that