Petrobras posts US$220 million profit in Q1; EBITDA up 30.5% year-on-year

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Appreciation of Brent oil was the driver of the revenue increase despite the decline in sales of oil products to the domestic market.

Petrobras posted profits of R$1.167 billion (US$220 million) in the first quarter, thereby offsetting the R$48.52 billion loss recorded in the same period last year. The average of analysts’ projections had pointed to a net profit of R$2.11 billion, according to data compiled by Refinitiv.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) totaled R$48.95 billion, representing an increase of 30.5% year-on-year. In the quarterly comparison, there was a 4.1% increase. The market expected EBITDA to be R$46.88 billion.

The recurring adjusted EBITDA, in turn, reached R$47.76 billion, up 29.3% year-on-year and 36.1% compared to the fourth quarter last year.

Also highly regarded by the market, free cash flow reached R$31.09 billion, up 2.8% over the fourth quarter and 16.6% over the first three months of 2020.

Finally, net revenue totaled R$86.17 billion, a 14.2% increase over the first three months of 2020. Compared to the preceding quarter, there was a 14.9% increase. Analysts had estimated revenues of R$97.93 billion for the period.

In the statement, the company’s management highlights that the increase in revenue was mainly driven by the 38% appreciation in the price of Brent oil barrels. Another contribution was diesel revenue, which reached R$25.2 billion.

Also in reference to the increase in the Brent price, Petrobras’ managers explain that the increase in oil prices resulted in higher revenues for other derivatives, although the sales volume of derivatives in the domestic market suffered a 5.6% reduction due to seasonality and to the restrictions imposed by the social isolation measures taken to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Another important figure, export revenues reached R$22.8 billion, up 16.2% when compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, but down 7.7% year-on-year.

“There was an increase in China’s share in exports in the first quarter of 2021, reaching 56%. Singapore remained the main destination for derivatives exports, with 75%, leveraging the opportunities offered by IMO 2020,” commented the state company.

Regarding debt, there was a reduction of US$18.3 billion in gross debt in the annual comparison and of US$4.6 billion in the quarterly comparison, reaching US$71.0 billion. Accordingly, the multiple of net debt divided by EBITDA reached 2.03 times, the best mark for the company’s debt leverage since 2012.

Petrobras’ CEO Joaquim Silva e Luna said the figures prove the team’s ability to generate sustainable results for investors and for society in general, despite the challenging environment.

In the New York Stock Exchange after-market ADRs (in practice, the shares traded in the USA) are up 0.22% at US$9.24.

Source: Infomoney