Eni, an Italian energy company, announced on Wednesday that it would increase its planned share buyback by 45% to €1.6bn for 2024, following better-than-expected net income in Q1 2024.
In Q1 2024, Eni achieved an adjusted net profit of €1.58bn attributed to the shareholders, with a group tax of 49%. Eni had an adjusted operating cash flow of €3.9bn during the same period before working capital at replacement cost.
Q1 sales from operations decreased to €22.94bn compared with €27.18bn in the previous year. Total revenues also declined to €23.17bn from €27.38bn. Adjusted earnings per share decreased to €0.48 from €0.86.
“The quarterly performance was excellent, with a strong result from E&P [exploration and production], supported by production up 5% versus last year and continuing growth at Plenitude and Enilive. This drove €4.1bn of proforma adjusted EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes], leading to €1.6bn of adjusted net profit,” Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in the statement.
Adjusted net income increased to €2.91bn during Q1 2023, primarily due to the significant surge in natural gas prices across Europe.
During Q1 2024, hydrocarbon production increased by 5% to 1.74 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). This rise was due to the purchase of Neptune Energy, which includes properties acquired by Vår Energi in Norway, and the ramp-ups at the Baleine project in Côte d'Ivoire and Mozambique.
Exploration activities during the same period increased, with 435 million barrels of oil equivalent of new resources added to the base. This was driven by the Calao discovery in the CI-205 block (of which Eni holds a 90% interest) off Côte d'Ivoire and the positive appraisal of the Cronos discovery in the operated Block 6 off Cyprus, the company said in the statement.
“Operationally, we continue to leverage our exploration and development skills: a new giant discovery in Côte d'Ivoire will expand our optionality in the long term both in terms of resources and potential dilution; fast-tracking development has ensured the start-up of the first LNG in Congo, just one year after the Final Investment Decision (FID),” Descalzi said.
In February, just one year after the FID, the Congo FLNG project began delivering its LNG to international markets, marking Congo as a new global exporter of LNG.
The Congo LNG project is currently in the production phase and was implemented with simultaneous exploration and development activities to speed up production. The project follows a zero-flaring technological approach to reduce fugitive methane emissions. As a result, it enables the Republic of Congo to export LNG and support its economic growth, which aligns with Eni's decarbonisation strategy.
Plenitude, Eni's business dealing with retail and renewable energy, has reported a proforma adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of €346m, representing a 48% increase from Q1 last year.
At the end of March, the group's leverage increased to 0.23, compared with 0.20 at the end of last year. This is within the 15–25% range indicated in its 2024–27 business plan.
“The results put the company firmly on track to exceed the full-year earnings and cash flow guidance as we work to efficiently grow the upstream, profitably develop the businesses tied to the energy transition and fully capture the market scenario,” Descalzi added.
