Main state-owned companies close 2023 with a reduction of R$59 billion in profits

In 2023, the sum of the net profit of the five main federal state-owned companies – Petrobras, Banco do Brasil, BNDES, Caixa Econômica Federal and Correios – was R$182.1 billion, a drop of 24% compared to the previous year, when combined results reached R$241.1 billion.

One of the main causes for the drop in the performance of the five state-owned companies in the first year of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) third term was the decline in profits at one of them, Petrobras.

In 2023, the company had a 33% reduction compared to 2022, going from record revenue of R$188.3 billion to R$124.6 billion. The BNDES also presented a result 5% lower than in 2022, when it reached R$ 12.5 billion, compared to 11.9 billion in 2023.

Banco do Brasil, on the other hand, had a record result of R$35.6 billion, an increase of 11.4% compared to the previous 12 months, when it reached R$31.9 billion. Caixa Econômica Federal also had an increase in its performance, which reached R$10.6 billion, an increase of 15.5% compared to R$9.2 billion in 2022.

Just like Petrobrás and BNDES, Correios also suffered a loss of R$597 million. The value, however, is 22% lower than the previous year’s deficit, of R$768 million.

Drop in international oil prices and increase in income from credit lines

According to Petrobrás, the results were impacted by the negative variation in the international price of oil (Brent), which fell 18%, and the price of diesel in relation to oil (crackspread), which saw a drop of 23%. According to the company, the world’s largest oil companies also had reduced earnings, due to the decline in international prices.

In the case of BNDES, as explained by the bank’s Financial and Digital Credit Director for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Alexandre Abreu, the returns of amounts to the Treasury made in 2022 contributed to the deficit. If they had not been carried out, he stated that the result would have been R$1.1 billion more in 2023, registering an increase instead of a decrease in relation to the previous year.

During the presentation of the Bank’s results in 2023, he showed that the BNDES’ free cash began 2022 with R$90 billion, reaching R$16 billion at the turn of 2023 and being restored to R$34 billion in the fourth quarter of that year.

Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica Federal obtained higher revenues from various operations, such as credit, for example. In the case of Correios, the adoption of management measures that resulted in the improvement of processes, such as the adoption of technologies, were responsible for reducing losses. According to a company statement, by 2024, it is estimated that there will be a profit of R$150 million.