Oil giant Saudi Aramco sees 2020 profits drop to $49 billion

Saudi Arabia’s state-backed oil giant Aramco says its profits nearly halved in 2020 to $49 billion

 Saudi Arabia’s state-backed oil giant Aramco announced  that its profits nearly halved in 2020 to $49 billion because of coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. released its annual financial results a year after the pandemic sent the price of oil crashing to all-time lows as people stopped moving around the world to stem the spread of the virus. In recent weeks, however, the price has edged up as movement restrictions ease, commerce increases and more people get vaccinated against COVID-19. Still, analysts caution that a peak in demand may still be far off.

Despite the 44% drop in net income, Aramco said it would stick to its promise of paying quarterly dividends of $18.75 billion — $75 billion a year — due to commitments the company made to shareholders in the run-up to its initial public offering. Nearly all of the dividend money goes to the Saudi government, which owns more than 98% of the company. 

Saudi Aramco profit of $49 billion in 2020 is down from $88.2 billion in 2019 and $111.1 billion in 2018. Still, Aramco remains one of the world’s most valuable companies.