EQNR - Equinor shatters annual profit record; Q4 easily beats estimates

Equinor ( NYSE: EQNR ) +6.6% pre-market Wednesday after posting a better than expected Q4 profit and tallying a record $74.9B adjusted operating profit for 2022, more than double the previous record.

Equinor's ( EQNR ) raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 from $0.20, and lowered its extraordinary dividend to $0.60 from the $0.70 in Q3.

Q4 adjusted earnings edged higher to $15.06B from $14.99B but easily topped the $14.41B expected in a company-compiled consensus.

Q4 net profit surged to $7.9B from $3.37B in the year-earlier quarter and routed the $4.31B analyst consensus.

Q4 equity production fell 5% to 2.046M boe/day from 2.158M boe/day a year ago, while Equinor ( EQNR ) expects ~3% growth in oil and gas production for 2023.

Equinor ( EQNR ) realized a European gas price of $29/MMBtu and realized liquids prices were $80.40/bbl in Q4, higher than a year earlier but European gas prices weakened through Q4 2022.

The company sees organic capex at $10B-$11B in 2023, with an annual average of ~$13B for 2024-25 from ~$12B previously.

Equinor ( EQNR ) said it is "well positioned to deliver strong returns through the energy transition, expecting above 15% return on average capital employed to 2030."

Equinor ( EQNR ) shares have dropped 8% so far this year as natural gas prices have tumbled, but have gained 3% during the past year .

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