The board of Petrobras today approved the submission to the assembly of a revision of the charter, a move seen by the market as a failure in the management of the state-owned company, which has already been exploited by politicians in previous PT governments.
The company’s shares fell more than 4% on the news today.
O board proposes two main changes. The first is the creation of a capital payment reserve.
The company, led by Jean-Paul Prothes, said the purpose of this reserve would be to “provide resources for the payment of dividends, interest on shares, advances, repurchases of shares, coverage of losses and, as a remaining objective, inclusion in the capital of Social. “
no friendshipthe reading is that the change will provide more flexibility for Petrobras not to pay extraordinary dividends in the future.
“Previously you had to call an EGM and set up a reserve with an investment plan,” XP wrote. “Now it looks like they will have more flexibility to keep cash when they want to.”
Petrobras CFO Sergio Leyte already told analysts at a recent meeting that the company is exploring the possibility.
Goldman Sachs also criticized the changes and said the proposal “increases the uncertainty in our forecast for the payment of extraordinary dividends”.
The second change is the exclusion from the Charter of the norm prohibiting the appointment of politically famous people. top management and council — a rule implemented by state law to avoid political interference.
The change comes a week after state Rep. Leonardo Siqueira filed a class-action lawsuit seeking the removal of the three directors, claiming the appointments did not comply with the company’s bylaws.
It also came after Minister Ricardo Lewandowski suspended some sections of the state law in a monocratic decision.
On the positive side, the company has proposed banning insurance cover for directors in cases of “willful misconduct or gross negligence”.
Pedro Arbex