Repsol shoots its dividend by 5% after returning to prepandemic figures

Repsol foresees improve dividend in 5%, up to 0.63 euros per share, With a capital reduction of 75 million treasury shares, equivalent to the current 4.9%, after obtaining a net profit until September which rises to 1,939 million euros, above the results obtained in the same period in 2019 (1,466 million euros), before the coronavirus pandemic. The adjusted net result reached a level similar to that of 2019 (1,637 million).

Thus, the Board of Directors has agreed to implement a share buyback program for up to 35 million shares, representing 2.29% of Repsol’s share capital. The company is recovering from the harsh trance that the pandemic caused in its accounts due to the fall of the oil and gas prices in the first months of 2020, as well as by the review of your future price assumptions and the downward adjustment of the value of its oil exploration and production assets. In the first nine months of this year the prices of crude oil and gas returned to pre-pandemic levels, with Brent trading at an average of $ 67.9 per barrel and Henry Hub, at $ 3.2 per MBtu.

All business segments achieved positive figures in their results, highlighting exploration and production, particularly influenced by the upward trend in raw material prices, which rose to 1,063 million euros, compared to 864 million in 2019. During this period, the sale of its assets in Malaysia and of block 46 CN stands out. , in Vietnam, in addition to its participation in the Arog joint venture, in Russia, which join the end of oil production in Spain and exploration activity in several countries. The company’s goal is to reduce the intensity of its CO2 emissions by 75% in the 2021-2025 period.

The industrial area earned 339 million euros in the first nine months of the year, 48% higher than the 229 million in the same period of 2020. The company is immersed in a process of transformation of its facilities to use multiple residues of different origins as raw materials to turn them into fuels and more sustainable materials. This is the case of its A Coruña refinery, which for the first time has processed frying oil to make hydrobiodiesel, or its Cartagena refinery that aspires to be a biofuel plant in 2023.

The chemistry area continued with the exceptional performance observed in previous quarters, while the renewables area increased its contribution to the group after earning 397 million euros, 20% above the 332 million in the same period of the previous year. The mobility and aviation businesses also improved their performance after leaving behind some of the mobility restrictions resulting from the health crisis.

Related news

The company also achieved in all its business segments a positive operating cash flow, which amounted to 3,371 million euros, and a free cash flow, also positive in all its segments, which amounted to 1,855 million. In addition, between January and September 2021, Repsol reduced its net debt 9% (642 million euros), from the levels of last December, to place it at 6,136 million. The liquidity it amounted to 9,948 million euros, which represents 2.57 times the short-term maturities.

On the other hand, the current director, José Manuel Loureda Mantiñán, has left his position and, consequently, has also resigned from the Remuneration and Sustainability Committees.