Petrobras was the second largest dividend payer in the world in 2022, says manager – 03/01/2023 – Market

Petrobras was the second largest payer of dividends in the world in 2022, according to a survey carried out by resource manager Janus Henderson, with the distribution of US$ 21.7 billion (R$ 112.4 billion, at the current exchange rate) to its shareholders.

The high dividends of the state-owned company reflect a change in the remuneration policy for shareholders in 2019, driven by the rise in oil prices after the most critical period of the pandemic. They were targets of criticism from both the Jair Bolsonaro government and the opposition and are in Lula’s sights.

In its semi-annual report on shareholder remuneration, Janus Henderson points out that, in dollars, the volume of dividends paid by Petrobras grew 138% compared to the previous year, “by far the highest increase in dividends in the world”.

With the increase in payments from Petrobras, Brazil contributed with 30% of the increase in the volume of dividends distributed by companies headquartered in emerging markets. The year 2022 recorded a record in the global payment of dividends, with US$ 1.56 trillion (R$ 8.1 trillion).

It is an increase of 8.4% compared to that seen in 2021, driven by record profits from oil companies and payments made by the financial sector. Together, the two account for half of the increase in volume.

In the first half of 2022, Petrobras was at the top of the list of best payers, but lost the position to mining company BHP, which benefited from the rise in coal prices after sanctions on oil exports from Russia.

In recent years, with the increase in dividends, the Brazilian state-owned company has come to be considered a “cash cow”, as companies that remunerate shareholders well are called, as a result of a policy of reducing investments, selling assets and focusing on pre-payment. established at the beginning of the Bolsonaro government.

The situation, however, should change, as the PT government intends to reverse this strategy, expanding investments, resuming operations in segments abandoned by the company and suspending sales of assets.

This Tuesday, the government also announced a tax on oil exports, as compensation for lower rates on gasoline and ethanol. The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, justified the decision by saying that the profit of the oil companies is “exorbitant”.

The possibility of losing dividends has already been priced in by the market, which dropped the value of the company’s shares after Lula’s election.