Petrobras to issue dividends despite fourth quarter net loss of $2.8 billion

Recasts first paragraph, adds context on paragraphs 2, 5-7 and 10-11

By Fabio Teixeira and Marta Nogueira

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's Petrobras PETR4.SA posted a net loss of 17 billion reais ($2.8 billion) in its fourth quarter due to non-recurring events, lower Brent prices and a "highly volatile" market for diesel, but aims to distribute dividends, the firm said on Wednesday.

Petrobras is set to distribute 9.1 billion reais in ordinary dividends, for which it will use its cash reserves, the company said in a separate statement.

The net loss, which compares with a 31 billion reais net profit a year earlier, was mainly affected by exchange rate variation on debts between the state-run oil firm and its subsidiaries abroad, the firm said.

According to Petrobras, the financial transactions did not impact its cash flow, and excluding them, the firm would have posted a net profit of 17.7 billion reais in the quarter, still a 53% drop year-on-year.

While the transactions impacted the net profit negatively, they had a direct positive impact on equity, the firm's Chief Financial Officer Fernando Melgarejo, said in a statement.

Melgarejo added that a lower Brent crude prices and volatility in diesel prices impacted the firm's results.

Under Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government, Petrobras has adopted a pricing strategy intended to protect fuel prices in Brazil from international volatility. In January it issued its first hike on diesel prices in over a year.

The firm reported a 10% decrease in net revenue at 121.3 billion reais, below estimates from analysts polled by LSEG of 127.8 billion reais.

Petrobras' adjusted earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at 41 billion reais, well below analysts' estimates of 63.6 billion reais, and a 39% decline year-on-year.

For its second quarter of 2024, the firm also posted a net loss due to non-recurring events, a result of a one-off 11.9 billion reais tax charge and the devaluation of the real, among other non-recurring items, the firm at the time.

Petrobras invested $5.7 billion in the fourth quarter, 61% above the same period of 2023. Overall, it invested around 15% above its guidance for the year.

($1 = 5.8035 reais)