Oil giant Saudi Aramco is down but not out.
Saudi Aramco reported a 44% slump in full-year 2020 results but maintained its $75-billion U.S. dividend payment.
Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s massive state oil firm, reported net income of $49 billion U.S. for all of 2020, down from $88.19 billion U.S. in 2019. The result was slightly below analysts’ expectations of $48.1 billion U.S. but still represents one of the worst performances of any publicly traded company in the world.
Saudi Aramco said revenues were impacted by lower crude oil prices and weakened refining and chemical margins. The company also said it expects to cut capital expenditures in the year ahead and lowered its guidance for spending to around $35 billion U.S. from a range of $40 billion U.S. to $45 billion U.S. previously.
Free cash flow slumped almost 40% to $49 billion U.S., well below the level of its hotly anticipated dividend. Aramco also declared a payout of $75 billion U.S. for 2020, despite concern that it would take on additional debt to maintain it.
Shares in the top western oil and gas companies including Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) and BP (NYSE:BP) dropped to multi-year lows in 2020, as the global pandemic wrecked havoc across the oil and gas industry and sparked a historic collapse in the price of oil. Exxon Mobi (NYSE:XOM)l, the largest U.S. energy company, posted its first annual loss ever in 2020.
