Petrobras records a profit of 1,515 million dollars in nine months

State oil company Petrobras recorded a net profit of 5,000 million reais (about 1,515 million dollars) in the first nine months of the year, reversing losses of 17,300 million reals (about 5,244 million dollars) in the same period of 2016, the company reported today.

Rio de Janeiro, Nov 13 (EFE) .- The state oil company Petrobras registered a net profit of 5,000 million reais (about 1,515 million dollars) in the first nine months of the year, reversing losses of 17,300 million reais (about 5,244 million dollars) in the same period of 2016, the company reported today.

The result from January to September was "very positive, "the president of the state company, Pedro Parente, said during a press conference held in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.

The state-owned company, the largest company in Brazil, attributed the cumulative benefit to the increase of its exports sales thanks to the best quotation of crude oil in the international market, to its extraordinary income from the sale of assets and to the reduction of expenses with personnel, among other factors.

In the third quarter of 2017, Petrobras obtained a profit of 266 million reais (about 80.6 million dollars), a figure slightly lower than the previous quarter, but positive with respect to the same period of the previous year, when it recorded losses of 16,400 million reales (about 4,970 million euros) dollars).

With the result, the state company added its fourth consecutive quarter of profits, after the losses of 14,800 million reals (about 4.486 million dollars) of 2016, when the The state government added its third year in the negative due to both the crisis in the oil sector and the losses stemming from the gigantic corruption scandal that it carries out.

The benefit of the Company from January to September before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) remained stable at 63,571 million reais (about 19.27 billion dollars), which, According to Petrobras, evidence that the reduction in operating expenses and the increase in exports offset the fall in the margins of derivatives.

The liquid debt of the company, for its part fell 11%, going from 100.300 million dollars at the end of the third quarter of 2016, to 88.100 million dollars at the end of September of this year.

Production in the nine months of 2017 was a daily average of 2,776 million barrels of oil and equivalent natural gas, representing an increase of 3% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The company reported that, within the framework of its adjustment program, investments in the first nine months were 19% down on the year previous and were of 29.400 million reals (about 8.911 million dollars).