Eni announced on Thursday a record net profit of 13.8 billion euros for the year 2022, more than double the profits made the previous year. Adjusted operating profit (Ebit) doubled to 20.4 billion euros, with gas and oil driving the increase thanks to the war in Ukraine. CEO Claudio Descalzi announced a dividend increase to 0.94 euros per share and a share buyback of 2.2 billion euros. Descalzi also sets a more moderate target for this year: 13 billion euros. Despite its good results, Eni’s share price fell on the Milan Stock Exchange.
Italy introduces a tax on “excess profits
At the time of the announcement of record profits, Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon deplored that “most of these profits will go to dividends and share buybacks for the benefit of shareholders” instead of “investing in a serious shift towards decarbonization”. This request did not fall on deaf ears as Eni confirmed its goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 35% between 2018 and 2030 and then achieving carbon neutrality in 2050. However, to contribute to the Italian and European energy stability in the face of Ukraine, the Italian group has also paid 0.7 billion euros in the form of tax for “excess profits” in Italy.
The competitors follow
Despite the good performance of the other oil majors ExxonMobil ($55.7 billion), Shell ($42.3 billion), Chevron ($35.5 billion) and Total Energie ($20.5 billion), their shares are not taking off in the markets despite this strong profitability. The same is true of Eni, which fell by 4.24% to 13.51 euros at around 2:45 pm, in a market up 0.85%.
