Joa_Souza/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) -11.5% pre-market Friday after reporting a smaller Q4 net profit and lower than expected shareholder payouts, in a warning that the company's big dividends may have ended.
The company's board approved 1.10 reais/share, or 14.2B reais ($2.9B) in dividends from Q4, and did not pay extraordinary dividends for the full year; according to Bloomberg, analysts were expecting $3.7B in dividends and at least $3B in special dividends.
Investors have been concerned about the potential for reduced payouts; CEO Jean Paul Prates said last week that Petrobras (PBR) would be more cautious about issuing blockbuster payouts because it plans to spend more on wind, solar and biofuels projects.
Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticized Petrobras (PBR) as a cash cow for private investors instead of spending more on refining and the energy transition.
For Q4, Petrobras (PBR) posted a 6.3% Y/Y decline in net recurring profit to 41B reais (~$8.31B) and an 8.5% drop in adjusted EBITDA to 66.85B reais; both missed estimates, as analysts polled by LSEG predicted a profit of 35.3B reais and adjusted EBITDA of 76.3B reais.
Q4 revenues rose 15.3% Y/Y to 134.3B reais, while Q4 oil production rose 1.9% Q/Q to 2.36M bbl/day; total hydrocarbon production gained 2% to 2.9M boe/day.
For the full year, Petrobras (PBR) posted net recurring income of 136B reais, down 24.2% Y/Y but above the 125B reais analyst consensus estimate.
Full-year capital spending totaled $12.7B, up 29% vs. 2022, due mostly to more expenditures on its pre-salt oil fields, the company said.