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(Bloomberg) -- Petrobras announced 9.1 billion reais ($1.6 billion) in dividends on Wednesday that trailed estimates after a surprise loss in the fourth quarter.
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The payout fell short of expected dividends of $2.8 billion, the average of five analyst estimates reviewed by Bloomberg. The Brazilian oil producer has joined other majors including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. who continued to reward shareholders even though free cash flow has become strained at current oil prices.
The Rio de Janeiro-based producer reported a net loss of 17 billion reais ($2.9 billion) in the fourth quarter due to “exclusive events” including the accounting impact of a sharp currency devaluation, it said in a filing. Without the one-off events net income would have been 17.7 billion reais, it said.
The dividend fell by about half from the previous quarter in a disappointment to investors. Petrobras has been a cash cow despite political attacks on its dividend policy at the start of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s term.
“Petrobras’ results in 2024 were impacted mainly by an item of an accounting nature,” Chief Financial Officer Fernando Melgarejo said in the filing, where he cited “the exchange rate variation in debts between Petrobras and its subsidiaries abroad.”
Analysts were expecting 18.35 billion reais in net income, according Bloomberg consensus. Brazil’s real was the worst performing major currency in 2024. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, was 41 billion reais, trailing the 61.9 billion-reais estimate.
Petrobras’ American depositary receipts were down 3.6% in after-hours trading.
About 83% of analysts currently recommend buying Petrobras, compared with 39% when CEO Magda Chambriard began her term last year last May, according to Bloomberg data. The payouts have also helped shore up the finances of the federal government, Petrobras’s controlling shareholder. Petrobras made 103 billion reais in dividend payments in 2024, it said.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as it is formally known, reported earlier this month a decline in oil and gas production and weaker sales and exports during the quarter. Maintenance-related stoppages at offshore platforms and natural declines at mature fields caused the drop in output.