Petrobras Reviews Top Metrics

Petrobras reports that its Board of Directors has approved the revision of the top debt metrics included in the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan, replacing the net debt/EBITDA indicator to the gross debt indicator.

The review of the metric considered the high volatility of the net debt/EBITDA indicator, extremely sensitive to the Brent volatility, and the company's management focus on reducing its total debt. The appointment of gross debt as a top metric reduces the impact of Brent price volatility, while more directly reflecting the company's indebtedness, and more accurately showing the company's management actions, such as cost reduction, investment portfolio review and working capital adjustments.

The approved gross debt target for 2020 is US$ 87B, the same level as that of 2019, due to an adverse current global scenario as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and the oil prices shock.

It should be noted that the company continues to pursue the reduction of gross debt to US$ 60B. This amount is in line with the new dividend policy already announced, which provides for an increase in compensation to shareholders when gross debt reaches this level or lower.

The Board also approved the update of the EVA (Economic Value Added) calculation for 2020, in order to maintain the right incentive and stimulate the targeting of goals after the COVID-19 crisis, which resulted in a more challenging scenario for value creation. The update also considered the achievements of the year 2019. Thus, the consolidated Delta EVA target indicator was revised from US$ 2.6B to US$ 2.1B.

The safety metric was unchanged, with the target rate of recordable accidents per million man-hours (TAR) remaining below 1.0, with an ambition of zero fatality.

Petrobras reinforces its commitment to its portfolio management and its strategy supported by the five pillars: maximizing return on capital, reducing the cost of capital, relentless search for low costs, meritocracy and respect for people, the environment and safety. The current crisis highlights the relevance of these pillars that must continue to be implemented with even more focus and intensity.