Brazilian oil group Petrobras on Thursday reported a net profit of $8.76 billion in the third quarter of 2022, up 47.6% year-on-year thanks to soaring crude prices.
From July to September, the group’s turnover increased by 39.4% year-on-year.
These results “are directly related to the effectiveness of management, our strategic decisions and our exposure and alignment with Brent prices,” Petrobras CFO Rodrigo Araujo Alves said in a statement.
The board of directors approved a dividend of R$3.35 per share on Thursday, for a total of R$43.7 billion ($8.5 billion).
Petrobras was under pressure from far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who was defeated in the second round of the presidential election last Sunday by his left-wing rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and who had gone so far as to describe the fuel price increases decided by the oil group as “rape”.
The Brazilian federal government currently owns 50.26% of Petrobras. Jair Bolsonaro was in favor of privatizing the group, while Lula said he would keep it in his fold.
Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT) has criticized the group’s dividend payments. “This policy affects the company’s investment policy and only enriches shareholders,” PT President Gleisi Hoffman tweeted.
In total, Petrobras has paid its shareholders 180 billion reais ($35.3 billion) since the beginning of 2022, according to the daily Valor.
