Bonanza for Adnoc Drilling’s shareholders

New dividend policy to ensure at least 10% payout hike annually over next five years

Shareholders in Adnoc Drilling have just received a boost — the company is bringing in a new dividend policy of increasing its payout by “at least” 10 per cent annually over the next five years.

At the same time, the Board of Directors may “consider additional dividends” over and above this “after taking into account growth opportunities”. And while maintaining the net debt/EBITDA up to 2 times (excluding any transformative merger and acquisition deals).

The new dividend policy will be placed for shareholder approval at an upcoming general assembly meeting. The date is to be confirmed. Dividends are expected to be paid semiannually with a final dividend distributed in the first-half and an interim dividend in the second-half of each year.

Some of the listed Adnoc affiliated entities have announced increases on their dividend payouts, but mostly by 5 per cent apiece.

Impressive Q1-24 numbers

The announcement comes after Adnoc Drilling struck a strong set of numbers for Q1 with record revenue and EBITDA.

Revenues came to $886 million, increasing 24 per cent year-on-year and 5 per cent sequentially. This then led to an EBITDA growth of 31 per cent year-on-year — and 3 per cent sequentially to $437 million, with a margin of 49 per cent.

“Adnoc Drilling continues to capitalise on its unique position as a critical enabler of Adnoc’s plans to responsibly accelerate production capacity growth to 5 million barrels per day by 2027,” said a statement.