By Julia Payne
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Global energy trader Vitol paid out $2.5 billion to its employee shareholders in 2023 after posting a record profit of $15 billion last year, company results showed, bringing the total paid out to a third of its profits in the last year.
Swiss firm Vitol pays out cash to its over 400 employee shareholders through an annual share buyback scheme. The 2023 buyback comes on top of a $2.5 billion tranche paid out during 2022.
The trading house cashed in on price spikes in global commodity and energy markets last year after western powers imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Its 2021 profit was $4.2 billion.
Vitol is the world's largest independent oil trader and a major player in the liquefied natural gas and power markets.
Revenues last year totalled $506 billion up from $279 billion in 2021.