By Liam Moloney
Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA (E) Friday said it plans to
increase its 2012 dividend by almost 4%, despite a similar-sized
drop in fourth-quarter profit, pulled lower by higher taxes and
weaker natural gas sales.
"The company will achieve industry-leading upstream growth
rates," in 2013, said Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni in a statement,
with production rising thanks to the start up of big projects like
the Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan and the Angola liquefied
natural gas project.
Eni is in the process of increasing its exposure to oil and gas
production, boosting investments using funds from the sale of its
stakes in Italian gas grid operator Snam SpA (SRG.MI) and
Portuguese energy company Galp Energia SGPS SA (GALP.LB).
Eni also said Monday it is rethinking its 43% stake in Saipem
SpA (SPM.MI), following an Italian investigation into allegations
that the oil services company paid bribes to obtain Algerian
contracts. That stake is worth about 4 billion euros ($5.36
billion) at current market prices.
The company proposed Friday paying a dividend of EUR1.08 a share
on 2012 earnings. Of that, EUR0.54 has already been distributed as
an interim dividend.
Eni's fourth-quarter net profit, adjusted for changes in the
value of oil inventories and one-off gains and losses from asset
sales, dropped 3.6% to EUR1.52 billion from EUR1.58 billion a year
earlier. This was almost in line with an average forecast of
EUR1.55 billion in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of 12 analysts.
Net revenue from operations rose 10% to EUR32.57 billion.
Eni's oil and gas output for the period averaged 1.747 million
barrels of oil equivalent a day, as expected, compared with the
1.678 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the fourth quarter
of 2011. Eni's oil and gas production was crimped last year by the
conflict in Libya that toppled Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
Eni shares closed Thursday at EUR17.32, giving it a market value
of EUR62.94 billion--making it Italy's biggest company
Write to Liam Moloney at liam.moloney@dowjones.com
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