Trending: Eni Posts Lower 4Q Profit, Shares New Shareholder Remuneration Policy

1746 GMT - Eni SpA is among the most mentioned topics across news items over the past 12 hours, according to Factiva data, after it posted results for the fourth quarter and a new shareholder remuneration plan as part of a new strategy until 2026. The Italian oil-and-gas major booked a quarterly net profit of 550 million euros ($583.4 million), down from EUR3.52 billion in the year-earlier period. The result was affected by fair-valued commodity derivatives, asset impairments and extraordinary, solidarity tax contributions. On an adjusted basis, net profit was EUR2.50 billion, the company said. Separately, Eni unveiled a plan to simplify its shareholder remuneration policy as part of a strategy from 2023 to 2026, and raised the dividend for the current year by 7% to EUR0.94 a share. Eni said it aims to distribute between 25%-30% of annual cash flow from operations through a combination of dividend and share buyback. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets say in a note that Eni's updated corporate plans look weaker than expected, given a higher capex run-rate relative to consensus while volume targets look broadly in line. "The simplification of the distribution policy, while expected, should be taken well, although we believe some investors had expected a higher payout ratio," the analysts say. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva. ([e-mail])

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February 23, 2023 13:01 ET (18:01 GMT)

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