Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras reported a drop in first-quarter net profit, missing market expectations, as the impact of higher oil prices from the Middle East conflict had yet to flow through to results, it said in a Monday filing.
Petrobras posted a net profit of around BRL32.7 billion ($6.68 billion), down 7.2 per cent from a year earlier, while approving a payout of BRL9 billion to shareholders in a separate filing.
The company said the surge in oil prices that followed the start of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran in late February would only be felt in the second quarter.
Most Petrobras exports are shipped to Asian markets, with pricing typically being based on quotations from the month prior to the cargo's arrival, the firm said.
The average Brent crude price for the first quarter was $80.60, only 6.5 per cent above prices a year earlier, according to the firm's results, while Brent prices surged past $100 after the closing of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Brazilian oil major has become increasingly reliant on its exports to generate revenue. While revenue from exports rose 28.3 per cent in the first quarter, its revenue from sales in Brazil dropped 9.4 per cent over the same period.
On the whole, net revenue rose slightly by 0.4 per cent, to BRL123.69 billion, below the BRL136.08 billion the market had forecast.
Core earnings, as measured by adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at BRL59.64 billion, a 2.4 per cent fall. Analysts expected BRL64.48 billion.
(Reporting by Fernando Cardoso in Sao Paulo, Fabio Teixeira and Marta Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Kylie Madry, Brendan O'Boyle and Jacqueline Wong)
