2023-04-26 01:52:30
This Monday he took possession Ricardo Roa Barragán as President of Ecopetrolassuming the company at its best moment in financial terms and in the midst of the Government’s plan to accelerate the energy transition.
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However, a series of comments made after his possession had adverse effects on the share price of the paper. In the case of the price of ADRs (American Depository Receipts), they opened lower and accumulated a fall of more than 15.4%. At closing, the price was US$9.8. Ecopetrol had a 40.4% drop on the NYSE in the last 12 months, after a sharp drop in mid-2022.
In the case of its value on the Colombian Stock Exchange, each title was trading at $2,235 (at closing), which means a 6.3% drop compared to the closing price of the previous day ($2,385).
(Also read: ‘Fracking’: Ecopetrol will not leave its operation without a careful analysis)
This Tuesday, in an interview with radio media, Roa made some statements that had an impact on the market. One of these was related to exploration.
In Blu, Roa pointed out that “So far only 8% of the contracts that have been assigned to us have been successful, so there is still a large space to continue looking without the need for new contracts.”
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And he added that the country is capable of producing the same internal gas consumption; however, if necessary, it is imported through the Cartagena regasification plant. He said that if it became cheaper to bring gas from Venezuela for these cases, that would be an option.
Now, there are other factors that are hitting the species of the oil company. One is that this Tuesday is the first ex-dividend day, that is, the first payment of the profits generated last year has already been made.
Typically, after the dividends are paid, the stock falls in a similar proportion to the payment, explained Ómar Suárez, Casa de Bolsa’s variable income manager.
Another issue is the price of oil that is located at US$80.8 per barrel of Brent and that last month rose to US$87, to fall since April 13.
Ómar Suárez, Casa de Bolsa’s variable income manager, explains that the behavior cannot be attributed solely to the statements of the president of Ecopetrol, Ricardo Roa, since they were issues that were already known to the market, for which reason they had already been incorporated for days back.
The truth is that it may have a weight, according to Sergio Cabrales, a professor at the Universidad de los Andes. According to his analysis, seven points of the fall in the NYSE could be explained by being the ex-dividend date and another five points could be attributable to Roa Barragán’s comments in the media.
This drop in the price would mean a loss of value for the oil company of US$3.35 billion, that is, about $12 billion, Cabrales explained.
DANIELA MORALES SOLER
Journalist Portfolio
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