The credit rating agency, “Moody’s,” confirmed that the transfer of Saudi Aramco shares to the Public Investment Fund with a rating of “A1 with a stable outlook” is credit-positive, as it increases its assets under management, improves diversification of its sectors, and adds an asset that regularly pays dividends to its portfolio.
Prince Muhammad bin Salman, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Public Investment Fund, announced the transfer of 4% of Aramco shares to the Public Investment Fund, which contributes to supporting the fund’s plans to raise the volume of its assets under management to about Four trillion riyals by the end of 2025.
Moody’s indicated that this transfer reflects the Fund’s importance to Saudi Arabia and its main role in implementing the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, noting that the deal did not require any payments from the Public Investment Fund, and is closer to an injection of shares.
The agency added that the assets of the Public Investment Fund under management will increase by 296.4 billion riyals ($ 79 billion), based on Aramco’s market value on February 13.
She noted that the deal will also improve the strong diversification of the Public Investment Fund’s sectors, and increase the fund’s holdings in the oil and gas sector.
She explained that the transfer will also increase the dividends received by the Public Investment Fund.
And she continued, “Aramco is one of the companies that distribute regular dividends, and it has a strong commitment to pay at least $75 billion in annual dividends, which will result in additional dividend income of 11.25 billion riyals ($3 billion) annually.”
Moody’s pointed out that the transfer of shares reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to the Public Investment Fund, and that the fund has received regular asset transfers since the transfer of its reference from the Ministry of Finance to the Council of Economic and Development Affairs in 2015, amid expectations of additional contributions in the future.