Benefiting from the rise in fuel prices in recent months, Petrobras will distribute record dividends. The state-owned company informed today (28) that it will allocate R$ 87.8 billion in dividends (part of the profits passed on to shareholders) referring to the profit of the second quarter.
“Approval of the proposed dividend is compatible with the company’s financial sustainability in the short, medium and long term and is in line with the commitment to generating value for society and shareholders, as well as the best practices of the global oil and gas industry. natural environment”, highlighted Petrobras.
According to the company, the proposed dividend is “in line with the Shareholder Remuneration Policy, which provides that, in case of gross indebtedness of less than US$ 65 billion, the Company may distribute to its shareholders 60% of the difference between the cash flow operating and acquisitions of fixed and intangible assets (investments)”. The Policy also provides for the possibility of paying extraordinary dividends, provided that its financial sustainability is preserved.
Of this total, R$ 25.2 billion of the state-owned company should go to the Union, which is the largest shareholder of Petrobras. With the approximately BRL 14 billion distributed to the government in the first quarter, the Union will receive around BRL 39 billion in dividends for the first six months of 2022.
In a statement sent this afternoon to the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), Petrobras said that the second quarter dividends will be paid in two equal installments in August and September. Each share – preferred or common – will receive R$ 6.732003, with the preferred shares having priority in the payment.
In the first quarter, Petrobras had transferred R$ 48.5 billion in dividends to shareholders. With the record volume distributed in the second quarter, the amount distributed in 2022 reaches R$ 136.3 billion. The volume of the first half exceeds the total of dividends distributed throughout the whole of last year. In 2021, the oil company paid BRL 101.4 billion in dividends, of which the Union received BRL 37.3 billion.
Traditionally, companies have two options for profit: reinvest in the company itself or distribute dividends to shareholders. In a note, Petrobras informed that it chose to pay a record volume of dividends because there are no investments suspended or on hold due to financial or budgetary restrictions.
State-owned dividends represent one of the sources of funds that the National Treasury intends to use to fund the payment of BRL 41.25 billion of the constitutional amendment that increased social benefits and created temporary aid for taxi drivers and truck drivers. According to figures released today by the National Treasury, in the first half of the year, the federal government received BRL 45.202 billion in dividends from state-owned companies, in inflation-adjusted values, against BRL 16.157 billion in the same period in 2021.
Article amended at 10:00 pm to correct information on the amount of dividends that will be allocated to the Federal Government
