November 08, 2024 [Reuters]- Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras on Thursday reported an increase of around 22% in its third-quarter net profit, and announced $3 billion in dividends.

The company posted a net profit of 32.6 billion reais ($5.7 billion) for the quarter ended in September.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) landed at 63.7 billion reais, marking a 3.8% decrease year on year but matching analysts expectations pooled by LSEG.

Its net revenue from sales increased by 3.8% to 129.6 billion reais, topping the expectation of 125 billion reais.

In a separate filing, Petrobras said its board had approved doling out 17.12 billion reais ($3 billion) in dividends, or 1.3282 real per share.

The firm in the third quarter invested about $4.5 billion, around 31% more than in the same period of 2023, it said, most of it on exploration and production.

“This demonstrates our commitment to delivering our projects and executing our Strategic Plan diligently,” said Chief Financial Officer Fernando Melgarejo in the earnings report.

In August, Petrobras lowered its planned investments for this year to between $13.5 billion and $14.5 billion, from $18.5 billion previously. So far the firm has invested around $10.9 billion in 2024.

Last month the firm said its oil production in Brazil in the third quarter was down 8.2% on a year-on-year basis, to 2.13 million barrels per day.