In Brazil the case exploded Petrobras, on a political and financial level. The largest company in the country, and among the largest oil companies in the world, has its first shareholder in the State with almost 29% of the capital, but it is also listed on the stock exchange and famous for being one of the most sought-after groups by investors, due of its historically very generous dividends. Since when Squid è returned to power, a year ago, however, the tune has changed: the president asked for and obtained a tightening of coupons, and hoped for greater investments, in particular on the ecological transition, given that Petrobras continues to extract crude oil even in sensitive areas, such as the mouth of the Amazon, and does not have a convincing plan for a future with fewer emissions.
Petrobras, here's what happened
For months the issue remained on paper, so to speak, but in recent days it has definitively exploded: Petrobras published its 2023 accounts which were disappointing, with turnover falling by 20% to 512 billion reais (around 100 billion euros). ) it's a net profit dropped by a third to 124,6 billion reais. Consequently, the board of directors has decided to propose at the next shareholders' meeting on April 25 an ordinary dividend of 14,2 billion reais for the fourth quarter, for a total of 72,4 billion for the whole of 2023, but has excluded – according to the market under direct pressure from Lula – the distribution of the extraordinary dividend, which investors were expecting instead.
Petrobras, so the stock collapsed
Lo stop to the extraordinary coupon has sent the financial community into a rage, and in turn the opposition to Lula government and part of the press: the consequence was that on the same day as the quarterly report was announced, last Friday, the Petrobras stock immediately lost more than 10%, burning 55 billion reais, around 10 billion euros, in just a few hours. In Monday's session the oil giant burned another ten billion reais, for a total of almost 64 billion, equal to approximately 13 billion euros, in just two sessions. Yesterday there was only a slight rebound, while the case worsened further after the company explained that the parameters for the distribution of the extra dividend "were not achieved", admitting however that it was the advisors linked to the Government who vote “no”.
Petrobras, what Lula said
In all this, to add fuel to the fire, the same man intervened yesterday President Lula, who openly challenged the market: "I see a 'choradeira' (a cry) of the market", attacked the former trade union leader, who went so far as to compare finance to a "voracious dinosaur" and reiterated that Petrobras must not respond only to shareholders “but think about investments and remember that it belongs to 200 million Brazilians”. “The market – added Lula with very harsh words – wants everything for itself and nothing for the people. Could it be that he doesn't care about people who go hungry?”. During the day the president held a meeting with the Minister of Economy Fernando Haddad and the president of Petrobras Jean Paul Prates, then posting a photo on But investors flee.
