Eni SpA reported a 94% drop in first-quarter profit and cut its production forecast for the year as demand is crushed by the coronavirus pandemic. While the large decline in earnings reflects in part a high tax rate, it provides signals for the rest of the industry, with the worst impact of oil’s historic plunge likely in the coming quarters. Investors are focused on how the companies handle one of the most turbulent periods in recent memory.
Eni’s adjusted net income tumbled to 59 million euros ($63.5 million) in the quarter from 992 million euros a year earlier. It reduced its output forecast for this year to around 1.8 million barrels of oil equivalent a day from as much as 1.84 million previously as a result of spending cuts and “pandemic effects.”
The outlook is “disappointing,” Biraj Borkhataria, an analyst at RBC Europe Ltd., said in a note. The forecast doesn’t take account of possible impacts from OPEC+ output cuts, which also won’t be taken well by the market, he said.
Eni shares dropped as much as 3.2% on Friday, and traded down 1.7% at 8.33 euros as of 9:26 a.m. in Milan. That takes their decline this year to 40%.
Oil companies are under immense pressure as the coronavirus decimates demand and drives prices to levels never seen before. Brent crude, the global benchmark, averaged $50.82 a barrel in the first three months of the year, 20% lower than a year earlier. It has since slumped to the lowest in 21 years, with New York prices even turning negative for the first time.