Brazil's Petrobras reports worse-than-expected 38% drop in first quarter profit

Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras PETR3 posted a 38% fall in its first-quarter net recurring profit from a year earlier on Monday, missing analysts' expectations on the result and its dividend, hit by weaker sales volumes.

Net recurring profit fell to 23.9 billion reais ($4.63 billion) for the quarter ended in March, well below analysts' estimate of 30.2 billion reais, according to LSEG data.

The firm approved a payment of 13.45 billion reais ($2.61 billion) in dividends and interest on equity to shareholders, amounting to around 1.04 reais per common and non-voting share.

Citigroup analysts had predicted dividends of $3 billion.

Petrobras said the result was mainly due to lower sales, a drop in oil prices and a narrower profit margin on diesel sales compared with last year's fourth quarter. The company also blamed the devaluing of the real in the period.

The firm's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the period shrank about 17% from the same period of 2023 to 60.04 billion reais. The LSEG poll expected a result of 67.92 billion reais.

Revenue fell about 15%, to 117.7 billion reais on the same comparison, though the average Brent price was higher than a year earlier.

Sales of oil, gas and derivatives amounted to 2.92 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, a 4.6% decrease year-on-year. The decline was due in part to an increase of biofuel in the mixture of fuel sold in the country, said the firm when it released its production figures last month.

($1 = 5.1570 reais)