Galp FY2021 profit increases to €457 million; proposes dividend of 0.50€ per share

  • ECO News
  • 21 February 2022

With a net profit of €457 million in 2021, the oil company decided to propose a dividend of 0.50€ per share.

Galp Energia posted a net profit of €457 million in 2021, a return to profits after registering losses of €42 million in 2020. The company also announced that will propose a base dividend of €0.50 per share to shareholders.

Last year, EBITDA rose 48% to €2,322 million, “supported by strong upstream results,” the company said in a statement sent to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM).

According to the results published this Monday, Galp increased investment by 4% in 2021, for a total of €936 million (€38 million more than the previous year). Upstream accounted for 66% of total investment, while downstream activities accounted for 17%. Meanwhile, renewable energy and new businesses received 15% of investments. “Net Capex was €552 million, considering the proceeds from divestments, most notably the stake sale in Galp Gás Natural Distribuição (GGND) during 1H21,” the company highlights.

Net debt rose 14% to €2,357 million. The oil company justifies this debt with the dividends paid to shareholders of €498 million and minorities of €198 million, as well as other adjustments. Net debt to RCA Ebitda at the end of the period was 1.1x. “Excluding the non-recurrent temporary working capital effects related with margin accounts, FCF would have reached €1.0 bn and net debt to RCA Ebitda at year end would have been 0.8x,” it details.

“In 2021, Galp delivered a robust set of results, driven by strong upstream contribution and despite a challenging downstream performance,” the CEO underlines in the message sent to the markets. “With confidence in our financial robustness and resilience of our cash flow growth, the Board adjusted the distributions to shareholders to exclude transitory effects that impacted the net debt position at year-end, aiming to launch a buyback of €150 million, on top of the proposed base dividend of €0.5/share,” Andy Brown adds, stressing that 2021 was his first year as CEO of the oil company.

Galp also revised its shareholder remuneration guidelines, “considering a progressive dividend and supplementary buybacks”, estimating to distribute up to 1/3 of adjusted operating cash flow in the coming years. Last year, adjusted operating cash flow (OCF) increased 49% year-on-year to €1,852 million, supported by upstream results.

For 2022, Galp will propose a dividend of €0.52 that will be made through an interim payment of €0.26 per share in September 2022, with the remaining amount to be paid after the dividend approval at the 2023 Annual General Meeting. The buyback related to 2022 should be executed during 2023.