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Saudi Arabia's state energy giant Aramco posted a Q2 2024 net profit of $29.1 billion, 3% lower year-on-year (YoY), weighed by the drop in crude oil volumes sold and weakening refining margins.
Analysts had expected $27.64 billion in the quarter, according to LSEG data.
Sales revenue was $113.5 billion in Q2 versus $107.35 billion in the year-ago period, mainly driven by higher prices of crude oil, refined and chemical products, and higher volumes of refined and chemical volumes sold, the energy major said in a statement on Tuesday.
In Q2, Aramco achieved total hydrocarbon production of 12.3 million barrels oil eqivalent per day (mmboed).
Capital expenditures for Q2 were $12.13 billion, versus $10.46 billion in the year-ago period.
Free cash flow for Q2 was $18.96 billion, compared to $23.16 billion for the same quarter in 2023, despite higher crude oil prices and lower production royalties compared to the same period last year.
For H2, Aramco made a net income of $56.34 billion, versus $62 billion in the same period in 2023.
Aramco has declared a base dividend of $20.3 billion and the fifth distribution of performance-linked dividends of $10.8 billion, bringing the total declared dividends for Q2 to $31.1 billion.
The company, in which the Saudi government has approximately 81.2% stake, paid 57.28 billion riyals ($15.27 billion) as royalty to the government in Q2 and a dividend of SAR 95.76 billion.
On Tadawul bourse, Aramco shares opened at SAR 27.15, up 1.3% from Monday's close.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)