Petrobras, Brazil’s largest oil company, lost almost 6,083 million euros in market value in a single day on Wednesday, following the Lula da Silva government’s decision to replace the state-owned company’s president.
The dismissal of the oil company’s president, Jean Paul Prates, announced on Tuesday night, caused the oil company’s shares to fall sharply, with investors fearing that the company will suffer further political intervention.
Petrobras’ ordinary and preferred shares fell by 6.8% and 6.0% respectively on the São Paulo stock exchange on Wednesday.
In view of the sharp devaluation, Petrobras’ market value fell from 97,090 million euros on Tuesday to around 91,020 million euros on Wednesday.
Prates’ departure comes after months of disagreements with some of Lula da Silva’s ministers over the management of the company and especially over the destination of profits, since the outgoing president advocated a greater distribution of dividends and the government has made it clear that it prefers profits to be reinvested.
The oil company is controlled by the Brazilian state, but its shares are traded on the São Paulo, New York and Madrid stock exchanges.
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