RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's state-led oil giant Petrobras on
Friday posted its first quarterly loss in more than 13 years, fanning
concerns that the company, hampered by government intervention and
soaring costs, will fail to meet its goal of becoming one of the three
biggest crude producers by the end of the decade.
Petrobras lost 1.35 billion reais ($665 million) in the second quarter, compared with net income of 10.9 billion reais a year earlier, according to a securities filing. All nine analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the company to earn a profit. Their average estimate was 3.69 billion reais.
"The loss number is catching all of us by surprise," said Dany Rappaport, who oversees 250 million reais in assets for InvestPort in Sao Paulo. "As management recognizes some back-dated problems in the company's downstream units, analysts and investors might have to start rethinking our prospects for the company." Chief Executive Officer Maria das Graças Foster, who was appointed in January after nine years of missed production targets, blamed the loss on a weaker Brazilian currency, which boosted debt costs, and the write-off of losses related to recently drilled wells that came up dry or failed to show commercially viable resources.
Preferred shares of Brazil's largest company have shed 5 per cent this year and investors were surprised in June when the company said major increases in output were unlikely before 2015 despite $237 billion in planned spending. The 2012-2016 plan is the world's largest corporate investment program.
Petrobras lost 1.35 billion reais ($665 million) in the second quarter, compared with net income of 10.9 billion reais a year earlier, according to a securities filing. All nine analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the company to earn a profit. Their average estimate was 3.69 billion reais.
"The loss number is catching all of us by surprise," said Dany Rappaport, who oversees 250 million reais in assets for InvestPort in Sao Paulo. "As management recognizes some back-dated problems in the company's downstream units, analysts and investors might have to start rethinking our prospects for the company." Chief Executive Officer Maria das Graças Foster, who was appointed in January after nine years of missed production targets, blamed the loss on a weaker Brazilian currency, which boosted debt costs, and the write-off of losses related to recently drilled wells that came up dry or failed to show commercially viable resources.
Preferred shares of Brazil's largest company have shed 5 per cent this year and investors were surprised in June when the company said major increases in output were unlikely before 2015 despite $237 billion in planned spending. The 2012-2016 plan is the world's largest corporate investment program.
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