Aramco plans gradual dividend growth, regular debt issuance: Official

Ziad  Al-Murshed, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco)

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) is targeting gradual dividend growth over the coming years, with plans to rely on free cash flow, Ziyad Al-Murshed, the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, told Bloomberg.

Aramco plans to increase debt levels rather than relying on equity, focusing on capital structure optimization to reduce its average cost of capital, Al-Murshed said, noting that this move is unrelated to dividend payouts.

“We had the luxury of sitting out those three years until the market became conducive,” he added.

The company’s debt sales will be “regular but not too frequent,” its CFO said, adding that it has no plans to sell more debt for the remainder of 2024. “We want to be active, but we don’t want to be too active,” he said. One reason for the company to sell debt will be to widen its investor base, he said.

According to data available with Argaam, Saudi Aramco distributed SAR 349.5 billion, or SAR 1.44 a share in 2024 including base and performance-linked dividends.