據彭博新聞社2021年7月30日報道，雪佛龍公司恢復了一年多前暫停的股票回購，此舉表明雪佛龍公司相信大宗商品價格高企帶來的強勁現金流將在未來很長一段時間內持續下去。
股票回購將在今年第三季度開始，每年規模在20億至30億美元之間，約為去年初暫停之前投入的金額的一半。 在雪佛龍公司之前，荷蘭皇家殼牌公司和法國道達爾能源公司也采取了類似的舉措，它們在7月29日恢復了股票回購。
雪佛龍公司首席財務官Pierre Breber在接受媒體采訪時說：“這表明我們對未來充滿信心。 之所以選擇這一水平，是因為這確實是一個讓我們能夠繼續償還債務的范圍。”
由于鋼鐵制造商、零售商和制造商等不同行業乘著經濟擴張的高潮，股票回購正在全面復蘇或提高。 特別是，大型石油公司的高管們正尋求在大宗商品價格上漲之際回報股東。大宗商品價格上漲與此前的繁榮截然不同，當時，過剩的現金被投入成本高昂的增長型項目。
雪佛龍公司在一份聲明中表示，其第二季度經調整后的每股收益為1.71美元，高于彭博社調查的分析師平均預期的1.60美元。 與去年同期相比，今年上半年的資本支出下降了三分之一，而原油價格則上漲了50%以上，使得這家勘探企業擁有了足夠的現金來重啟股票回購。
今年早些時候，雪佛龍公司提高了派息，成為唯一一家派息高于疫情前水平的西方石油巨頭。
盡管最近增加了股息，殼牌公司和英國石油公司的股息仍落后于Covid -19之前的水平。 埃克森美孚公司本周早些時候表示維持派息不變，預計將把多余的現金用于削減債務，而不是回購股票。
此次回購也預示著看漲前景。Breber表示，即使在油價較低的時期，回購也將持續下去。 他表示：“我在上個季度的業績電話會議上明確表示，當我們有信心能夠維持這一周期時，我們將開始回購。我們想股票回購要維持多年。”
雪佛龍公司關注的關鍵宏觀經濟指標——如全球經濟復蘇、原油庫存以及:歐佩克及其盟友的協調——最近幾周都有所改善。 不過，他說，鑒于布倫特原油期貨價格高于每桶70美元，歐佩克擁有充足的備用產能，有理由對油價上漲持謹慎態度。
雪佛龍公司調整后的第二季度利潤為33億美元，去年同期虧損29億美元。 主要利潤驅動因素是石油和天然氣價格的上漲，同時該公司也受益于化工行業的繁榮和美國煉油行業的反彈。 受疫情影響，國際煉油行業仍呈現疲軟跡象。
李峻 編譯自 彭博新聞社
原文如下：
Chevron Revives Buyback of Up to $3B
Chevron Corp. is reviving share buybacks that were suspended more than a year ago, signaling confidence that strong cash flows from high commodity prices will be sustained well into the future.
The repurchases will begin during the current quarter and range between $2 billion and $3 billion a year, around half the amount it devoted to the program before it was suspended in early 2020. Chevron’s move followed similar steps by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE, which reinstated buybacks on Thursday.
“It says we’re confident in the future,” Chief Financial Officer Pierre Breber said in an interview. The level was chosen because “it really is a range that allows us to also continue to pay down debt.”
Stock repurchases are being revived or raised across the board as sectors as diverse as steelmakers, retailers and manufacturers ride the crest of economic expansion. In particular, Big Oil executives are seeking to reward shareholders as commodity prices rise, a turnabout from previous booms when excess cash was poured into costly growth projects.
Chevron earned $1.71 a share, on an adjusted basis, during the second quarter, the company said in a statement, trouncing the $1.60 average estimate among analysts in Bloomberg survey. Capital spending in the first half dropped by a third compared with a year earlier while crude prices rallied more than 50%, flooding the explorer with more than enough cash to resurrect buybacks.
The repurchasing program comes on top of Chevron raising its dividend earlier this year, becoming the only Western oil supermajor to lift the payout above pre-pandemic levels.
Even with recent increases, Shell’s and BP Plc’s dividends still lag pre-Covid-19 payouts. Exxon Mobil Corp. held its dividend steady earlier this week and is expected to devote excess cash to debt reduction rather than buying back shares.
The buyback also signals a bullish outlook. CFO Breber said the repurchases will be sustained even during periods of lower oil prices. “I was clear on last quarter’s earnings call that we would start a buyback when we were confident we could sustain it over the cycle,” he said. “We’d want to sustain it for multiple years.”
Key macroeconomic indicators watched by Chevron -- such as the global economic recovery, crude stockpiles, and co-ordination by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies -- all have improved in recent weeks. Still, with Brent crude futures above $70 a barrel and OPEC sitting on ample spare-production caapcity, there’s reason to be cautious about higher oil prices, he said.
Chevron’s adjusted second-quarter profit was $3.3 billion, compared with a $2.9 billion loss a year earlier. The main profit drivers were higher oil and natural gas prices, while the company also benefited from a chemical boom and a rebound in U.S. refining. International refining still showed signs of weakness due to the pandemic.
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