Nov 12 (Reuters) – Colombia’s state oil producer Ecopetrol on Thursday posted an 86% jump in net profit year-over-year in the third quarter, buoyed by higher oil prices and the recent acquisition of Brazil’s Brava Energia.
Net profit hit 4.76 trillion pesos ($1.44 billion dollars) in the quarter and revenues rose by 17.5% year-over-year to 35.06 trillion pesos ($10.63 billion dollars), the group said in a statement.
- Ecopetrol’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) reached 15.9 trillion pesos, up 29% from the same quarter last year, with an EBITDA margin of 45.3%
- The company completed its $1.12 billion acquisition of a 51% stake in Brazil’s Brava Energia on August 17, with Brava contributing 0.6 trillion pesos to EBITDA and 0.1 trillion pesos to net income in September
- Quarterly net income still came in below the 6.06 trillion pesos reported in the second quarter this year
- The company, whose shares are 88.5% held by the Colombian government saw consolidated production fall 0.5% year-on-year to average 747,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the third-quarter, including Brava’s contribution of 38,600 boepd from mid-August
- “The pricing environment supported the results, helping to mitigate operational pressures stemming from lower production and scheduled maintenance at the Barrancabermeja Refinery,” the company said in a statement
- Since taking office in August, Colombia’s right-wing President Abelardo De La Espriella has pledged to bolster Ecopetrol, expand its reserves, and protect domestic oil and gas supplies, including through fracking
- Ecopetrol’s board named Joaquin Gutierrez, a businessman and close friend of De La Espriella, as the company’s chief executive in September, handing one of Colombia’s biggest corporate posts to someone with no known energy industry experience
($1 = 3,297.07 pesos)
Leave a Reply