DUBAI, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco is forecast to

have no performance-linked dividend this year after a more

balanced 2024 cash cycle following earlier bumper results that

backed the special payout, JPMorgan ( JPM ) said in a research note on

Friday.

"The past 18M (18 months) has delivered elevated

performance-linked divs funded by premium FY22/23 financials and

we remind this cycle ends with YE24 (year-end 2024). For 2025,

we forecast no special distributions following a more balanced

2024 cash cycle," the note said.

Aramco, which reports its 2024 results on March 4, has said

it expects to declare total dividends of $124.3 billion for

2024, of which $43.1 billion would be performance-linked

dividends.

The Saudi government, which directly holds nearly 81.5% of

Aramco, relies on the company's payouts, which also include

royalties and taxes. Its sovereign Public Investment Fund

(PIF)holds another 16% of Aramco and also benefits from its

dividends as PIF spends tens of billions of dollars to try to

steer the economy away from oil.

The government last year sold a chunk of its longtime cash

cow to raise $12.35 billion from the second Aramco share

offering after its record 2019 debut.