EU's red tape cuts leave big businesses wanting more
Hedge fund dominance latest risk for febrile UK debt markets
Indian gold loan provider Manappuram hits record high as Bain Capital plans stake buy
Sudanese army seizes full control of presidential palace in Khartoum, Sudan TV and military sources say
Turkey criticises opposition leader's call to the streets over mayor's detention
What we know about Heathrow Airport
Airlines flying into Heathrow Airport on Friday
Bronny James sets new highs in depleted Lakers' loss to Bucks
By Yousef Saba
DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco is forecast to have no performance-linked dividend this year after a more balanced 2024 cash cycle following earlier bumper results that backed the special payout, JPMorgan said in a research note on Friday.
"The past 18M (18 months) has delivered elevated performance-linked divs funded by premium FY22/23 financials and we remind this cycle ends with YE24 (year-end 2024). For 2025, we forecast no special distributions following a more balanced 2024 cash cycle," the note said.
Aramco, which reports its 2024 results on March 4, has said it expects to declare total dividends of $124.3 billion for 2024, of which $43.1 billion would be performance-linked dividends.
The Saudi government, which directly holds nearly 81.5% of Aramco, relies on the company's payouts, which also include royalties and taxes. Its sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF)holds another 16% of Aramco and also benefits from its dividends as PIF spends tens of billions of dollars to try to steer the economy away from oil.
The government last year sold a chunk of its longtime cash cow to raise $12.35 billion from the second Aramco share offering after its record 2019 debut.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
