(AOF) – TotalEnergies (+2.26% to 69.60 euros) posted one of the strongest increases in the CAC 40 while the session was rich in information. The oil group is considering a primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange, said its CEO Patrick Pouyanné in an interview with Bloomberg: “I think it’s a legitimate question. “We are faced with a situation where European shareholders sell or maintain their stake, and American shareholders buy.
Its board of directors also reaffirmed the relevance of unified governance in order to pursue the company’s transition strategy. This decision goes against a proposed resolution aimed at dissociating the functions of president and general manager. The board of directors recalled having unanimously decided at its meeting on September 21 to continue the unified exercise of these two functions.
Decline in adjusted operating profit
These announcements were made in parallel with the presentation by the oil giant of its first quarter results. While it generated net profit of $5.7 billion, up 3% year-on-year, adjusted net profit fell 22% over this period to $5.1 billion. Adjusted Ebitda fell 19% to $11.5 billion “but remained above the mid-cycle average, supported by solid oil prices and high refining margins,” explains Fitch Ratings.
In this first quarter, adjusted operating income fell by 20% to $5.60 billion, compared to $6.99 billion a year earlier. Over the first three months of 2024, operating cash flow fell by 58% to 2.2 billion euros.
Additionally, “TotalEnergies observed a 15% reduction in operating cash flow before working capital change in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year, primarily due to lower performance in the Integrated LNG as well as Refining segments. & Chemicals, which was somewhat mitigated by robust results from the Integrated Power segment,” Fitch Ratings points out.
In the first quarter, the company indicates that Oil & Gas production stood at 2.46 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mboe/d), benefiting from growth in LNG production of 6% over the quarter as well as the start-ups of Mero 2 in Brazil and Akpo West in Nigeria.
Dividend increase
In parallel with the presentation of quarterly results, the board of directors of TotalEnergies decided to distribute a first interim dividend for the 2024 financial year in the amount of 0.79 euros per share. This amount is an increase of 6.8% compared to the advances paid for the 2023 financial year and identical to the balance of the ordinary dividend relating to the 2023 financial year.
In terms of prospects, the oil group confirms its guidance on net investments at $17-18 billion in 2024, including $5 billion dedicated to Integrated Power (renewable energies).
In addition, hydrocarbon production is expected between 2.4 and 2.45 Mboe/d in the second quarter of 2024, impacted by planned maintenance, partially offset by the ramp-up of Mero 2 in Brazil and Tyra in Denmark.
According to Fitch Ratings, “TotalEnergies enters the second quarter with an optimistic earnings outlook. High Brent prices persist due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Refining margins remain strong and Refining & Chemicals results could benefit from “an increase in capacity utilization to 85%, compared to 79% in the first quarter, as the restart of the Donges refinery progresses.”
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