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Petrobras (PBR) Posts Lower Q2 Earnings on Weak Oil Prices

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Brazil's state-run energy giant PetroleoBrasileiro S.A., or Petrobras (PBR - Free Report) announced second-quarter profit of $106 million compared with profit of $171 million in the year-earlier quarter. Lower production along with weak oil prices led to the underperformance. Lower economic activities in Brazil along with decreased crude oil export compounded the woes. Other energy majors impacted by low crude are Royal Dutch Shell plc , BP plc (BP - Free Report) and Apache Corp. (APA - Free Report) .

Petrobras’ sales revenues of $20,320 million were 22% less than the year-earlier level of $26,021 million and below the Zacks Consensus Estimate $28,566 million.

Segmental Performance

Upstream: The company’s total oil and gas production during the first half of 2016 was 2,710 thousand oil-equivalent barrels per day (MBOE/d), down from 2,784 MBOE/d in the same period of 2015. Brazilian oil and natural gas production decreased 3% to 2,523 MBOE/d and international volumes increased 2% year over year to 161 MBOE/d.

During the first half ended Jun 30, 2016, the average sales price of oil in Brazil plunged 28% from the year-earlier period to $34.54 per barrel. Average sales price of international oil was down 25% year over year to $44.37 per barrel. Regarding natural gas, average international sales price remains almost the same.

Decline on the production front and a sharp fall in oil prices resulted in a profit of $628 million during first-half 2016, significantly below the year-ago comparable period profit of $4,782 million.

Downstream: During the Jan–Jun 2016 period, Petrobras’ downstream unit earned $5,887 million, almost in-line with the year-earlier figure. Decreased economic activity in Brazil along with reduced crude oil export hurt the results. This was negated by lower crude oil purchase/transfer expenses.

Among other information, refining costs per barrel in Brazil were down 14% to $2.37. Internationally, it remains unchanged from the year-ago figure of $4.00. Petrobras imported an average of 422,000 barrels per day of oil and oil products, 32% lower than the same period last year.

Capital Spending & Balance Sheet

During the six months ended Jun 30, 2016, Petrobras’ capital investments and expenditures totaled $7,814 million. At the end of the first half, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $19,609 million and net debt of $103,556 million. Net debt-to-capitalization ratio was approximately 55%.  

PETROBRAS-ADR C Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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