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Eni (E) Beats Earnings Estimates in Q4, Guides for 2018

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Eni S.p.A. (E - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 65 cents per American Depository Receipt/ADR, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 44 cents. The company reported earnings of 26 cents in the year-earlier quarter.

Total revenues in the quarter were €20,881 million, up from €16,154 million in the year-ago period and €15,783 in third-quarter 2017.

The improvement mainly stemmed from record production and higher realized prices.

 

ENI S.p.A. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

ENI S.p.A. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | ENI S.p.A. Quote

Operational Performance

Total liquids and gas production in the fourth quarter was 1,892 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d), up 2% year over year. Notably, it was the highest quarterly production for the company in the last seven years. The increase in production can be attributed to project start-ups mainly in Angola, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia and Kazakhstan. Moreover, production restart at some Libyan fields, where safety conditions improved, added to the positive result. However, the positives were partly offset by decreased output from mature fields, OPEC production cuts, and lower production due to planned and unplanned shutdowns in Norway, the United Kingdom and the Gulf of Mexico.

Liquids production was 861 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), down 5% from the year-ago level of 906 MBbl/d. Natural gas production increased 8.2% year over year to 5,625 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d).  

Realized price of oil was $57.64 per barrel, up 29.4% from the year-ago realized price of $44.56 per barrel. Realized natural gas price was $3.89 per thousand cubic feet (kcf), up 10.9% from $3.50 in the year-ago quarter.

Gas sales were 21.48 billion cubic meters (Bcm), down 7.7% from the year-ago quarter. The decline was due to the divestment of retail activities in Belgium and Hungary along with lower sales in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Benelux and the Iberian Peninsula.  

Financials

As of Dec 31, 2017, the company had long-term debt (including current portions) of €20.2 billion. The debt-to-capitalization ratio was 33.9%.   

In the reported quarter, net cash generated by operating activities amounted to €3.3 billion. Capital expenditure totaled €2.3 billion.

Proved Reserves

Adjusted net proved reserves till 2017 was 6,990 million barrels of oil equivalent, which reflects an adjusted reserves replacement ratio of 151%.

Outlook

Eni expects Exploration & Production to witness 3% growth in 2018. This will be driven by increase in the number of fields where production started in 2017.

The company expects full-year capital spending to be around €8 billion.

Q4 Price Performance

The company has gained 1.2% in the fourth quarter compared with 8.2% growth of its industry.

 

 

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Eni carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the oil and energy sector are Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation , Suncor Energy Inc. (SU - Free Report) and Pioneer Natural Resources Company . All these companies sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Houston, TX-based Cabot is an independent energy company. Its sales for  fourth-quarter 2017 are expected to increase 34.7% year over year. For 2017, the bottom line is expected to be up 347.6%.

Based in Calgary, Canada, Suncor Energy is an integrated energy company. Its revenues for first-quarter 2018 are expected to improve 22.9% from the prior-year quarter. For 2018, the bottom line is anticipated to be up 21.9%.

Irving, TX-based Pioneer Natural Resources is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Its revenues for first-quarter 2018 are expected to improve 22.8% from the year-ago quarter. For 2018, the bottom line is anticipated to be up 163.4%.

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