Brazilian State-Owned Companies Had R$24.6 Billion Profit in First Quarter 2019

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Federal state-owned companies recorded profits of R$24.6 billion (US$6.15 billion) in the first quarter of 2019, up 57.5 percent over the same period in 2018 (R$15.6 billion).

The figures are included in the 10th bulletin of federal state-owned Companies, published yesterday, August 1st, in Brasília, by the Secretariat of Coordination and Governance of State-owned Companies of the Ministry of Economy.

Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), Eletrobras, and Petrobras account for more than ninety percent of the total assets and net worth of federal state-owned companies.

Among the groups analyzed, the highest profit growth was obtained by BNDES, rising from a R$2.1 billion profit in the first quarter of 2018 to R$11.1 billion in the first quarter of 2019, an increase of 437 percent.

Through the sale of Transportadora Associada de Gás S.A. (TAG), the number of state-owned companies fell from 134 to 133 by March of this year. After the bulletin was issued, there was a further reduction in the number of companies, currently totaling 130 state-owned companies.

Reduction of staff

There was a reduction of 2,400 employees in the first quarter of this year against the same period in 2018. The principal reductions occurred in the postal service Correios (1,721), and Banco do Brasil (402).

Part of this reduction results from the use of voluntary employee termination programs (PDVs). The estimated savings on payroll amount to R$ 1.1 billion.