BOGOTA, (Reuters) - Colombia's majority state-owned oil producer Ecopetrol reported on Tuesday a nearly 22% annual net profit drop in 2024, hit by a stronger U.S. dollar and lower international oil prices.
The energy company, whose shares are 88.5% held by the Colombian government, posted a net profit last year of 14.9 trillion pesos ($3.6 billon), compared to 19.06 trillion pesos in 2023.
Ecopetrol Chief Executive Ricardo Roa said during a press conference that 49% of the company's net profit decline last year was due to the exchange rate, 36% to prices and 15% to inflation.
In the fourth-quarter Ecopetrol reported a 7.8% net profit drop at 3.9 trillion pesos, reflecting the same challenges seen throughout the year linked to oil prices and the foreign exchange.
Total sales for the quarter totaled 34.8 trillion pesos, flat from the same three-month period a year earlier.
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) - a key metric for analysts - fell 3.1% in the last three months of 2024 versus the year earlier period to 11.88 trillion pesos, Ecopetrol added.
Its total oil and gas production in the period declined nearly 4% year-on-year to settle at 730,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
In 2024, the company's production reached 745,800 boepd, up 1.2% year-on-year, which Roa said marked the highest level recorded in the past nine years.
($1 = 4,116.61 Colombian pesos)
Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Nelson Acosta; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Stephen Coates
Source: Reuters