STC continues with dividend payout despite profit drop

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) will pay a dividend for the fourth quarter of 2025 despite reporting a 40 percent drop in annual net profit.

The telco will pay a dividend of SAR2.7 billion, or 5.5 percent of capital, for the quarter ended December 2025, bringing the total yearly payout to almost SAR11 billion.

The number of shares eligible for dividends stands at 4.9 billion, the company said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange.

In August 2024, STC announced its new three-year dividend policy, committing a payout of SAR0.55 ($0.15) per share every quarter, starting in Q4 2024 and running until Q3 2027.

Net earnings fell to SAR15 billion last year, down from SAR25 billion in 2024, due to the impact of a one-off gain of SAR14 billion from discontinued operations resulting from stake sales in two subsidiaries to the Public Investment Fund.

In April 2024, the sovereign wealth fund agreed to acquire STC’s 51 percent stake in Telecommunication Towers Co (Tawal) and Digital Infrastructure for Investment Company for SAR 8.7 billion ($2.32 billion).

Fourth-quarter net earnings fell 76 percent year on year to SAR 3.25 billion while revenue rose more than 2 percent to SAR19.4 billion.

PIF owns 62 percent of STC. Shares of the telco, which trade on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), closed at SAR44.80 on Tuesday, up 4.2 percent so far this year.

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