Thursday, April 23, 2015

Riddled with corruption, Petrobras shows losses of 8 billion … – Les Echos

The Brazilian oil company finally released its 2014 results after delays due to the recognition of corruption and the depreciation of its assets. The new management now wants to start again on a sounder basis.

This review was long overdue. After a high-profile scandal of corruption, Petrobras is trying to restore order in its accounts. Recognizing losses of 21.6 billion reais last year ($ 8.1 billion in late 2014), Petrobras has also quantified the “adjustments” accounting for $ 19 billion, 2.3 billion directly related to corruption practiced by former members of management appointed by nearby power.

Accounts approved “without prejudice” by the independent auditors, ensures Aldemir Bendine, the new CEO of Petrobras, while PricewaterhouseCoopers had last year refused to approve the accounts of the third quarter. From relaxed, Aldemir Bendine a foretaste color. This is “putting things right” to better break disorder and regain market confidence past.

It was a little baptism by fire for the one who was the head of another public company, Banco do Brasil, before being propelled to the head of Petrobras February. Solicited, he does not hesitate to apologize “enormous” to employees and shareholders to this huge corruption scandal. The company is “passed by a large disaster,” he said, but he promises to create the best market practice for such events never happen again. But he argues that Petrobras was a “victim of it,” and it is now necessary to “turn the page”.



colossal debt

A speech that echoes that of the government, where it is estimated that the publication of accounts Petrobras marks the start of his rehabilitation. “It really has to mark a new stage in the reconstruction and the reformulation of Petrobras’ recently estimated the Minister of Finance Joaquim Levy in an interview with Bloomberg.

But yet he will not be easy to recover. Not to mention the damage caused by corruption, Petrobras is still struggling with a huge debt (it is now “the most indebted in the world” according to the International Energy Agency) and the soaring dollar on exchange markets makes it even more difficult to control. At the end of last year, its debt ratio had risen to 4.77 (against 3.52 a year earlier). A critical threshold, which led him to begin an asset sale program and reduce its investments. The new investment plan and the results of the first quarter are scheduled for next month, Aldemir Bendine.



Source AFP
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