The French company TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday that its 2023 earnings were the greatest in company history, supported by the success of its power and liquefied natural gas businesses.
With a $21.4 billion net profit, the company increased its profits by 4% from 2022.
The French energy giant outperformed its international competitors Shell, BP, Exxon-Mobil, and Chevron, all of whom reported lower profitability despite reduced energy prices, in terms of its bottom line.
However, TotalEnergies’s enormous extraordinary charge of $15 billion from its withdrawal from Russia when that nation invaded Ukraine hurt the company’s 2022 net profit.
Last year’s profits saw a severe decline once non-recurring events were subtracted; adjusted net profit dropped 36% to $23.2 billion.
Prices for petrol and oil fell by almost 10% on average last year compared to 2022, when rising oil prices had increased profits for energy corporations all over the world.
In a statement, Chairman Patrick Pouyanne referred to the outcomes as “robust” and noted that they were obtained in “an uncertain environment.” He stated that hydrocarbons had done well.
Nevertheless, the 2023 net profit amount was below the expectations of financial analysts, who were expecting a value as high as $23.7 billion.
In response, the company’s share price fell by almost 1.5% during early trading on the Paris stock exchange.
Although TotalEnergies has explored diversification to produce power with a lower carbon footprint, environmental organizations nonetheless attack the company for its continued usage of fossil fuels due to their influence on the climate.
The group declared in September that in five years, it will raise hydrocarbon production by two to three percent annually.
The corporation is facing several court lawsuits, including ones over its land acquisition methods for contentious projects in Tanzania and Uganda that have drawn criticism from environmental groups.
With the Tilenga drilling project in Uganda and the 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) to transport crude to Tanzania’s coast, TotalEnergies is moving forward.
With plans to drill 419 wells beneath the Murchison Falls National Reserve in western Uganda, Tilenga is pursuing oil, which has alarmed locals and environmentalists concerned about the region’s delicate ecology.
In mid-2023, drilling commenced, with production scheduled for 2025.
According to TotalEnergies, these kinds of initiatives are necessary to meet the world’s energy demand. The company highlights its efforts to shift to low-carbon production, particularly in the areas of solar and wind energy.
The massive energy company suggested raising the annual dividend it pays to stockholders by 7.1 percent.
