© Reuters. Saudi Aramco logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
By Hadeel Al Sayegh and Yousef Saba
DUBAI (Reuters) -Saudi oil giant Aramco (TADAWUL:) on Tuesday reported a 23% fall in third-quarter net profit, marginally beating analyst estimates, on lower prices and volumes sold.
Net profit declined to $32.6 billion for the quarter to Sept. 30 from $42.4 billion a year earlier.
The Saudi oil giant said the decline in oil prices and volumes was partially offset by a reduction in production royalties during the period.
A company-provided median estimate from 12 analysts had expected net profit of $31.8 billion in the quarter.
Aramco recorded revenues of $113.09 billion in the quarter, compared with $144.99 billion in the year-ago period.
Energy majors Chevron (NYSE:.N) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:.N) last month posted sharp year-on-year drops in third quarter profit as energy prices cooled.
Earnings by the state oil giant have benefitted from higher crude oil prices compared to the previous quarter, but prices are well off record year-ago levels.
Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, said it would continue with its voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of the year and that it would review the decision again next month.
Aramco declared a base dividend of $19.5 billion for the third quarter.
The company approved a second distribution of its performance-linked dividends with a $9.87 billion payout in the fourth quarter, equal to the first performance-linked payout.
The second performance-linked dividend is based on Aramco’s results in 2022 and the first nine months of 2023. Subsequent distributions are expected to be adjusted to reflect the remaining results for 2023, the company said.