沙特阿美2020年利润暴跌后将削减支出

据路透社3月21日迪拜报道，沙特阿拉伯国有石油巨头沙特阿美（Aramco）周日公布2020年净利润大幅下滑，并缩减支出计划，该公司押宝亚洲将带动今年能源需求反弹。

2020年，新冠疫情对该公司及其全球同行造成了沉重打击，但随着经济从去年的低迷中复苏，以及石油生产商延长减产，今年油价出现反弹。

沙特阿美首席执行官阿明?纳赛尔（Amin Nasser）在财报电话会议上表示:“我们很高兴看到复苏的迹象。中国目前的需求已十分接近疫情前的水平。所以在亚洲，尤其是东亚，需求强劲回升。”

他表示，欧洲和美国的需求将随着更多疫苗的部署而改善。他认为，到今年年底，全球石油需求预计将达到9900万桶/日。

沙特阿美向沙特证券交易所Tadawul透露，公司将2021年的资本支出指导值从400亿美元至450亿美元下调至350亿美元左右。2020年的资本支出为270亿美元。

这家全球最大的石油出口国表示，截至去年12月31日的财年，其净利润下降44.4%至1837.6亿里亚尔(合490亿美元)，上年同期为3306.9亿里亚尔。

根据Refinitiv旗下Eikon分析师的平均预期，分析师此前预计2020年净利润为1861亿里亚尔。

沙特阿美宣布，2020年派发股息为750亿美元，但纳赛尔表示，今年不打算在承诺的基础上增加股息。

Tellimer股票研究主管哈斯南?马利克(Hasnain Malik)表示：“股息符合预期，这是沙特阿美股东最关心的，但较低的资本支出意味着该公司预计高油价不会长期持续。”

沙特阿美公布财报后股价小幅下跌0.6%。

去年大部分时间，沙特阿美的股价相对于新兴和发达市场的全球石油公司表现良好，但当油价回升时，该公司的表现逊于同行。

裘寅 编译自 路透社

原文如下：

Saudi oil giant Aramco to scale back spending after 2020 profit slump

Saudi Arabian state oil giant Aramco is betting on an Asian-led rebound in energy demand this year after it reported a steep slide in net profit for 2020 on Sunday and scaled back its spending plans.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on the company and its global peers in 2020, but oil prices have rallied this year as economies recover from last year’s downturn and after oil producers extended output cuts.

“We are pleased that there are signs of a recovery,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told an earnings call.

“China is also very close to pre-pandemic levels. So in Asia, East Asia in particular, there is strong pickup in demand.”

He said demand in Europe and United States would improve with more deployment of vaccines. Global oil demand is expected to reach 99 million barrels per day by the end of this year, he said.

Aramco lowered its guidance for capital expenditure in 2021 to around $35 billion from a range of $40 billion to $45 billion previously, according to a disclosure to the kingdom’s Tadawul bourse. Capital spending in 2020 was $27 billion.

The world’s largest oil exporter said net profit fell 44.4% to 183.76 billion riyals ($49 billion) for the year ended Dec. 31, from 330.69 billion riyals a year earlier.

Analysts had expected a 2020 net profit of 186.1 billion riyals, according to the mean estimate of analysts in Refinitiv’s Eikon.

Aramco declared a dividend of $75 billion for 2020, but Nasser said there was no intention to increase the dividend this year from what’s been pledged.

“The dividend is in line with expectations, which is what holders of Aramco will care about most, but lower capex implies the company does not expect high oil prices to last for the long-term,” said Hasnain Malik, head of equity research at Tellimer.

Aramco’s shares were marginally down 0.6% after its results.

Through most of last year, Aramco’s shares held up well against global oil companies in emerging and developed markets, but underperformed against the company’s peers when oil prices recovered.