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Eni (E) Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Fall Y/Y

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Eni SpA (E - Free Report) reported third-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $1.18 per American Depository Receipt (ADR), which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.16. However, the bottom line declined from the year-ago quarter’s level of $2.14.

Total quarterly revenues of $24,652 million declined from $37,866 million recorded a year ago.

Better-than-expected quarterly earnings resulted from an increase in oil and gas production volumes. The positives were partially offset by lower average realized commodity prices.

Eni SpA Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Eni SpA Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Eni SpA price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Eni SpA Quote

Operational Performance

The company operates through four business segments — Exploration & Production, Global Gas & LNG Portfolio, Enilive Refining and Chemicals and Plenitude & Power.

Exploration & Production

The total oil and gas production in the third quarter was 1,635 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d), up from the 1,578 recorded in the prior-year quarter.

Liquids production totaled 758 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), up 7.2% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Natural gas production increased to 4,590 million cubic feet per day from 4,583 recorded a year ago.

The average realized price of liquids was $79.13 per barrel, down 14% from the $91.51 reported a year ago. The realized natural gas price was $6.79 per thousand cubic feet, down 25% from $9.08 registered in the year-ago period.

Lower liquid and natural gas price realization hurt the company’s Exploration & Production segment. The segment reported a profit of €2,605 million, down from €4,272 million recorded in the September-end quarter of 2022.

Global Gas & LNG Portfolio

Eni’s worldwide natural gas sales in the reported quarter totaled 10.91 billion cubic meters (bcm), down 18% year over year.

The integrated energy major’s Global Gas & LNG Portfolio business segment reported an adjusted operating profit of €111 million, marking a 90% decline from the year-ago quarter’s level of €1,083 million. This decrease was primarily due to limited gains from asset optimization in a market characterized by lower volatility and narrower gas spreads from the year-ago quarter’s level. Furthermore, some infrastructure maintenance activities led to reduced flexibility and arbitrage opportunities.

Enilive, Refining and Chemicals

For the third quarter, total refinery throughputs were 7.07 million tons (mmtons) compared with 7.05 in the corresponding period of 2022. Petrochemical product sales declined 2% year over year to 0.76 mmtons.

For the quarter under review, the segment reported an adjusted operating profit of €401 million, down from €537 million reported in the year-ago quarter. This was primarily due to lower production in all segments.

Plenitude & Power

Retail gas sales managed by Plenitude declined 14% year over year to 0.53 bcm. Power sales in the open market declined 19% year over year.

The company reported a profit of €219 million from this segment, indicating a 27% year-over-year increase.

Financials

As of Sep 30, Eni had a long-term debt of €22,095 million, and cash and cash equivalents of €9,559 million. Its debt to capitalization was 34.1%.

For the reported quarter, net cash generated by operating activities was €3,519 million. Capital expenditure totaled €1,873 million.

Outlook

For 2023, Eni narrowed its total hydrocarbon production guidance to 1.64-1.66 MBoe/d, up from 1.61 MBoe/d reported in 2022.

The company expects to exceed the initial target for resources addition of 700 MBoe this year, following the recent exploration success in Egypt and Indonesia.

The integrated energy major expects its capital expenditure budget at about €9 billion for the year.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Eni currently carries a Zack Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked players in the energy sector are Liberty Energy Inc. (LBRT - Free Report) and Matador Resources Company (MTDR - Free Report) , both currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and APA Corporation (APA - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

Liberty reported third-quarter 2023 earnings of 85 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 74 cents. The Denver-CO-based oil and gas equipment company’s outperformance reflects the impacts of strong execution and increased service pricing.

Liberty’s board of directors announced a cash dividend of 7 cents per common share, payable on Dec 20, 2023, to stockholders of record as of Dec 6, 2023. The dividend increased 40% from the previous quarter’s level.

Matador Resources reported third-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $1.86 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.59. MTDR’s milestone led to better-than-expected third-quarter results, with the highest-ever total production averaging more than 135,000 barrels of oil and natural gas equivalent per day.

For the fourth quarter of 2023, MTDR expects an average daily oil equivalent production of 145,000 BOE. The recent guidance indicates a 2% upward revision from the previously projected 143,000 BOE/D.

APA released supplemental information regarding its financial and operational results for the third quarter of 2023. The company expects its quarterly total adjusted production and adjusted oil production to be in the upper half of its guided range. This can be mainly attributed to strong Permian oil and U.K. North Sea volumes.

APA expects its adjusted production and adjusted oil production figures to fall within the upper half of its estimated range. The company anticipates adjusted production in the range of 337-339 Mboe/d and adjusted oil production in the band of 159-161 Mboe/d. It is scheduled to release third-quarter results on Nov 1.

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