Rio de Janeiro: Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras said it registered its first profit in five years, making 25.8 billion reais ($7.058 billion) in 2018. Adjusted profit — before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortisation —was a record 114.9 billion reais, Petrobras said in a statement.
“The 2018 Petrobras results were unquestionably the best in many years,” said the company’s new president, Roberto Castello Branco, who was appointed by President Jair Bolsonaro after he assumed office in January.
Petrobras had already seen something of a recovery in 2017, when losses were down to 446 million reais, a massive reduction on the previous three years, in which the company lost a combined 70 billion reais.
“The solid result reflects factors such as better margins in the sale of derivatives in Brazil and in crude exports, alongside the increase in the price of the Brent barrel and the appreciation of the dollar,” said the Petrobras statement.
The company’s debt dropped 18 per cent to $69.4 billion. The 2018 results came despite the payment of $853 million in damages in the third quarter to settle a collective claim from the United States related to the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil’s history. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
