Total shows great increase in its first half results

/ Financial News / Tuesday, 30 July 2019 08:55

Total’s Board of Directors met to approve the Group’s first quarter 2019 financial statements. Commenting on the results, Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said, “Markets remained volatile with Brent averaging $63/b in the first quarter, down 6% from last year, while natural gas prices were down 11% in Europe and 30% in Asia. Adjusted net income was $2.8 billion this quarter, down 4%, and return on equity held steady at 12% this quarter.”

With strong growth in production that reached 2.95 Mboe/d, up 9% year-on-year, the Group’s cash flow (DACF) increased by more than 15% year-on-year to $6.5 billion (B$), driven by the ramp-up in cash-accretive projects, including Egina in Nigeria, Ichthys in Australia and Kaombo in Angola. Cash flow after organic investments increased to 3.2 B$, up 18% year-on-year, thanks to strong operational performance and ongoing spending discipline, and the organic pre-dividend cash breakeven was less than $25/b.

The Group made two exploration discoveries: Brulpadda in South Africa and Glengorm in the UK North Sea.

Effective this quarter, the new iGRP (integrated Gas, Renewables & Power) reporting segment spearheads the Group’s ambition in the integrated gas value chain and low-carbon electricity. The segment’s operating cash flow before working capital changes increased by 55% year-on-year, thanks to growing LNG production by more than 50% and doubling LNG sales activity by Total. To prepare the segment for profitable growth in the future, the Group finalized its entry into the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia, signed the gas agreement for the Papua LNG project to enable the launch of the engineering phase, and strengthened its commitment to the Tellurian-led Driftwood LNG project in the United States.

Downstream continued to perform at a high level, generating 1.7 B$ of operating cash flow before working capital changes, up 25% year-on-year.

Total’s balance sheet is strong, with gearing (incorporating the impact of the new IFRS 16 rule on debt) below 20%, in line with the objective. In accordance with the shareholder return policy, the Group increased the first interim dividend for 2019 by 3.1% to €0.66 per share and bought back 0.35 B$ of shares during the quarter, in line with the 2019 target to buy back 1.5 B$ of shares in a $60/b Brent environment. The cash return to the shareholders expressed in dollars stands at 38% of operating cash flow before working capital changes.”

Net cash flow for the Group was 2,943 M$ in the first quarter 2019, up sharply year-on-year due to higher operating cash flow before working capital changes and lower net acquisitions.

The return on equity was 11.7% for the twelve months ended March 31, 2019, an increase compared to the same period last year.