Petrobras’ market capitalization loses US$5.6 billion in a single day and US$41 billion since Oct. 21

The lightning approval of the change promoted by the House of Representatives in the State Law made Petrobras lose R$30 (US$5.6) billion in market value in a single day, according to a survey conducted by the TradeMap platform.

At the close of the stock market yesterday (Dec. 14), the preferred shares of the oil company recorded a drop of 7.9%, while the common shares had an even worse performance, accumulating a loss of 9.8%.

The stock market, in turn, registered a high of 0.2%.

Also, according to TradeMap’s survey, since Oct. 21 this year, when it was worth R$520 billion (the highest value in history), Petrobras has already accumulated losses that are equivalent to almost an “Ambev” in market value, having a reduction of R$219 (US$41.3) billion since the period.

Yesterday Petrobras closed the day with a market value of R$301 billion, representing a loss of 42% since October. Ambev is currently worth R$238 billion.

STATE OWNERSHIP OF PUBLIC COMPANIES

The House of Representatives changed the quarantine period from 36 months to just 30 days for people nominated to preside over or direct public companies.

The change – which paved the way for former Minister Aloizio Mercadante to take over the command of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) – generated a lot of criticism and a strong negative reaction from the financial market.

Not only because it was done sneakily but also because it harks back to a period of free provision of public companies by political parties, which the law tried to end.

The State-Owned Companies Law (13.303/2016), or the State-Owned Companies Accountability Law, was approved and sanctioned during the interim government of Michel Temer, while Dilma Rousseff was removed from the presidency due to the impeachment process she was facing.

Part of a moralizing agenda, the text was proposed in the wake of the billionaire corruption scandal at Petrobras that came to light after the allegations of Operation Lava Jato starting in 2014.

The law came to improve the management of state-owned companies and shield them from political interference that could harm their business.

To this end, the text establishes a series of requirements for appointing directors and councilors, a rigid program of rules of conduct, standards for purchases and bidding, and internal audit policies and transparency with society and investors.

A report released in July by the Secretariat of Coordination and Governance of State Companies (Sest), of the Ministry of Economy showed that in 2021 the net profit of the 47 companies directly controlled by the Union totaled R$187.7 billion, the highest result since 2008.

The turnover reached nearly R$1 trillion – more precisely, R$999.8 billion.