Brazil’s Petrobras posts $9 billion profit as Bolsonaro rails against company
By Gram Slattery and Roberto Samora
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Petrobras posted a first-quarter web revenue that beat forecasts on Thursday, simply minutes after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro railed towards the state-run oil firm’s profitability, saying its executives had no sympathy for bizarre individuals.
In a securities submitting, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the corporate is formally recognized, posted a quarterly web revenue of 44.56 billion reais ($8.86 billion), above a Refinitiv consensus estimate of 43.5 billion reais and virtually 40 instances better than the identical quarter final yr.
Earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, got here in at 77.71 billion reais, barely above the Refinitiv estimate of 76.3 billion reais.
In feedback accompanying the outcomes, Petrobras attributed the revenue bounce to elements together with excessive Brent crude oil costs, wider margins in its diesel enterprise and decreased liquefied pure gasoline imports. It famous that its divestment program had slowed from the earlier quarter.
The primary-quarter outcomes, nonetheless, have been largely overshadowed by feedback made by Bolsonaro throughout a weekly broadcast on a number of social media platforms, simply minutes earlier than the outcomes have been revealed.
In a very free-wheeling deal with, he stated Petrobras was committing a “crime” and a “rape” towards Brazil by posting bumper income, whereas squeezing Brazilian shoppers on the gasoline pump.
The far-right Bolsonaro stated he wouldn’t intervene with Petrobras’ operations, however implored the corporate to not elevate gasoline costs any additional.
Bolsonaro faces a tricky struggle in his bid for a second time period as president within the October election and has been trailing the left-wing former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in opinion surveys.
Petrobras has a coverage of pegging home gasoline costs to worldwide charges, a coverage which has come beneath fireplace as costs have skyrocketed amid the struggle in Ukraine.
In a press release accompanying Petrobras’ outcomes, Chief Government José Mauro Coelho, who took the reins in April after his predecessor was fired amid a spat over home gasoline costs, stated the corporate was contributing to society although taxation and dividends.
“All of this generates financial growth all through all the chain of manufacturing, creating employment, wealth and tax revenue for the nation,” Coelho wrote.
“This quarter, we pays to federal, state and municipal governments an quantity equal to 1 and a half instances our web revenue in taxes.”
The corporate introduced bizarre dividend funds of three.715 reais per share early on Thursday. The federal government is by far its largest shareholder.
($1 = 5.03 reais)
(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Rio de Janeiro and Roberto Samora in Sao Paulo; enhancing by Richard Pullin and Leslie Adler)
