Brazilian oil and gas group Petrobras unveiled losses of BRL14.8bn (around US$4.8bn) in 2016. This figure has improved by 57% compared with the 2015 losses figure which amounted to BRL34.8bn but the company still needs to reduce its debt which is currently estimated at US$96.4bn.
In 2016, the group's oil products sales declined by 8% to 2,064 kb/d (-15% for diesel to 780 kb/d, -1% for gasoline to 545 kb/d and -36% for fuel oil to 67 kb/d). In addition, its biofuel sales dipped by 9% to 112 kb/d, while its gas sales fell by 23%. International sales also contracted by 8% (-23% for international sales of products but 9% increase in oil exports). These lower sales were coupled with falling oil and gas prices, on the domestic and global markets (-7% for oil price and -14% for gas price in Brazil, -22% for oil and -5% for gas price on the global markets).
Thus, the oil giant reduced its investments by 32%, its OPEX by 6%, its borrowings by 20% and its workforce by 12% in 2016. The company's adjusted EBITDA has increased by 16% while its net debt / EBITDA ratio has been reduced to 3.54 in Q4 2016, compared to 5.11 in Q4 2015 (-31%). In order to cope with its debt, Petrobras also implemented a divestment program reaching US$ 13.6bn in 2016.
The results improvement occurred mostly in Q4 2016, when Petrobras returned to the green with profits reaching BRL2.5bn (US$ 810m), after Q3 losses of BRL16.5bn (about US$ 5.34bn). This upswing reflects the impact of the company's cost-cutting policy and the implementation of lower assets write-downs. The price increase also played a role (+8% between Q3 and Q4).