Equinor’s announced that it made record net profits of up to $28.7 billion compared to $8.6 billion a year earlier, Reuters reported.
According to the report, their adjusted earnings before tax and interest (EBTIA) beat analysts’ expectations of $14.4 billion, as in October-December it increased to $15.1 billion from $15 billion a year earlier.
Due to Russia’s Gazprom cutting supply in response to Western support for Ukraine, which caused European gas prices to reach all-time highs, the majority state-owned firm last year became Europe’s largest natural gas provider.
“On the back of strong earnings, outlook, and balance sheet, we step up capital distribution to (an) expected $17 billion in 2023,” Chief Executive Anders Opedal said in a statement.
Equinor’s regular quarterly dividend has increased, and the company expects to see an annual cash flow from operations after tax of around $20 billion per year for the rest of this decade.
According to Equinor, it will pay an additional, extraordinary payment of $0.60 per share for four consecutive quarters in addition to its usual quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, up from $0.20, for a total of roughly $11 billion in dividends this year.
The board announced that it would continue to buy back shares on a regular basis for $1.2 billion year and an extraordinary repurchase for $4.8 billion in 2023, for a total of $6 billion.
According to Equinor, capital expenditures for 2023 are anticipated to be between $10 billion and $11 billion, roughly in line with an earlier plan. Equinor also increased the spending projection for the next three years from $12 billion per year to $13 billion per year.
