TotalEnergies SE said debt came down in the third quarter and will likely fall further by the end of the year as more asset sales complete.
Net debt receded to $24.6 billion at the end of September from $26 billion at the end of June, the French energy major said in a statement. It also reported quarterly earnings that met analyst estimates.
Total’s shares have trailed those of US and UK peers for much of the year as debt ballooned. Investor concerns about borrowings prompted the company to reduce its quarterly share buybacks last month, and it signaled repurchases may fall further next year if oil prices continue to weaken.
The stock dropped as much as 3.2% on Thursday, potentially reflecting plans by the French opposition National Rally to make buybacks more expensive. The lower house — where no party or coalition has an outright majority — has adopted an amendment proposed by the far-right group, which would raise a levy on repurchases to 33%.
“This has something to do with the underperformance” of Total today, said Ahmed Ben Salem, an analyst at Oddo BHF. It’s unclear whether the amendment will remain the same in the final budget bill, he said.
The shares traded down 1.7% at €53.22 as of 3:53 p.m. in Paris.
There’s “big fiscal creativity” in parliament, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said on a conference call. “There is a huge debate making a lot of noise, but I trust that at the end of the day we land on a reasonable” path.
Profit Falls
Total posted a 2.3% decline in quarterly adjusted net income, citing lower oil and gas prices, while hydrocarbon production increased. Gearing — a measure of indebtedness — eased to 17.3% at the end of the period and is seen as low as 15% at year’s end.
That comes after recent disposals, including Argentine shale assets and wind and solar in France. Total expects to complete a further $2 billion of divestments in the fourth quarter, including in the US, Norway and Nigeria. It’s in talks with two potential buyers to sell more Nigerian assets next year, Pouyanne said.
The oil major said its American Depositary Receipts will be converted to ordinary shares to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange starting Dec. 8. Total sought the change in an effort to reduce the discount of its stock versus US peers.
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
element
var scriptTag = document.createElement(‘script’);
scriptTag.src = url;
scriptTag.async = true;
scriptTag.onload = implementationCode;
scriptTag.onreadystatechange = implementationCode;
location.appendChild(scriptTag);
};
var div = document.getElementById(‘rigzonelogo’);
div.innerHTML += ” +
‘
‘ +
”;
var initJobSearch = function () {
//console.log(“call back”);
}
var addMetaPixel = function () {
if (-1 > -1 || -1 > -1) {
/*Meta Pixel Code*/
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘1517407191885185’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
/*End Meta Pixel Code*/
} else if (0 > -1 && 75 > -1)
{
/*Meta Pixel Code*/
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘1517407191885185’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
/*End Meta Pixel Code*/
}
}
// function gtmFunctionForLayout()
// {
//loadJS(“https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-K6ZDLWV6VX”, initJobSearch, document.body);
//}
// window.onload = (e => {
// setTimeout(
// function () {
// document.addEventListener(“DOMContentLoaded”, function () {
// // Select all anchor elements with class ‘ui-tabs-anchor’
// const anchors = document.querySelectorAll(‘a .ui-tabs-anchor’);
// // Loop through each anchor and remove the role attribute if it is set to “presentation”
// anchors.forEach(anchor => {
// if (anchor.getAttribute(‘role’) === ‘presentation’) {
// anchor.removeAttribute(‘role’);
// }
// });
// });
// }
// , 200);
//});
