KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) will pay RM54 billion in dividend to the government this year, including a special dividend of RM30 billion.
Petronas president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said the group, which announced a revenue jump of 12 per cent to RM251.0 billion, had been paying the dividend in tranches since January.
“The group will be paying RM54 billion dividend in total (for 2019) comprising RM30 billion in special dividend and RM24 billion in normal dividend.
“We were confident of delivering this dividend before we declared this number,” he said at a media briefing on Petronas’ 2018 financial results here today.
In November last year, Petronas announced that it would be paying an additional RM30 billion in a special dividend in the 2019 Budget to help the government settle refunds of RM37 billion in goods and services tax and income tax.
Petronas, in a statement, said the special dividend payment would not impede its operations.
Earlier, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the government expected to receive RM261.8 billion in revenue next year, including a one-off special dividend of RM30 billion from Petronas.
The special dividend, he said, would be used towards repaying the GST and income tax refunds of RM37 billion.
Petronas announced a 12 per cent increase in revenue to RM251.0 billion from RM223.6 billion recorded in 2017, driven by higher average realised prices for all key products.
Petronas’ net profit rose 22 per cent to RM55.3 billion from RM45.5 billion in 2017, on the back of higher revenue and supported by net write-back of impairment of assets.