TotalEnergies Q4 profit climbs on strong gas, power earnings

Adjusted EBITDA at France's TotalEnergies surged to $14.3bn in the fourth quarter of 2021, up from $5.2bn a year earlier, thanks primarily to a sharp growth in earnings from its LNG and electricity operations. the company reported on February 10.

Adjusted operating income at TotalEnergies' integrated gas, renewables and power division increased more than tenfold year/year to $2.76bn, from $254mn. Average LNG prices leapt to $13.12/mn Btu, from only $4.90/mn Btu a year earlier, due to rebounding demand and supply constraints. LNG sales volumes were also up 16% at 11.6mn metric tons, on the back of increased production at the Cameron LNG and Freeport LNG facilities in the US.

TotalEnergies also gained from a 57% expansion in power output to 6.7 TWh in Q4, supported by growth in renewable and gas-fired power generation. This was helped by the acquisition of four combined-cycle gas turbine plants in France in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The company's upstream segment more than tripled its operating income to $3.53bn, from $1.07bn, thanks to higher prices, while profit from its downstream business doubled to $1.03bn from $502m.

"TotalEnergies' multi-energy model demonstrated its ability to take full advantage of the very favourable environment, particularly in the LNG and electricity sectors," CEO Patrick Pouyanne said.

TotalEnergies' surging profits mirror those of BP, Equinor and Shell, which reported their results in the past week. And like its three European peers, the French major is also increasing rewards to shareholders.

The company announced a dividend of €0.66 ($0.75)/share for the final quarter of 2021, taking the full-year total to €2.64/share. It plans to increase interim dividends by 5% this year, and also aims to buy back $2bn of shares by July.