Eni reports strong growth in profits and an extraordinary dividend in December. Descalzi: “Excellent results”
The group has revised its growth forecast for E&P upwards and improved its cash flow projection for the full financial year (16.5 billion). The share buyback programme has been increased to 3.8 billion.
Key points
Thanks to its solid business performance, which has successfully capitalised on favourable commodity prices, Eni has finalised its financial results, exceeding analysts’ expectations, with a double-digit increase in key economic and financial indicators, and has revised certain targets upwards, starting with estimates for oil and gas production growth in the range of 6 to 7 per cent (compared with the previous target of 5 per cent) and the annual cash flow forecast (16.5 billion), with pro forma gearing (financial leverage) at an all-time high, below the 10–15 per cent range. Furthermore, the share buyback programme, underpinned by the results, will be increased by 12 per cent to 3.8 billion. These figures will enable the group led by Claudio Descalzi to distribute an extraordinary dividend of 0.46 euros per share in the fourth quarter.
The sharp rise in profits
Eni’s results therefore show strong growth, starting with net profit, which stood at 7.6 billion in the first nine months (compared with 2.5 billion in the same period of 2025, +202 per cent, whilst the increase for the quarter was 299 per cent, to 3.2 billion). The adjusted figure, i.e. excluding extraordinary items, stands at 6.4 billion (+70 per cent, whilst in the third quarter the increase was 125 per cent, to 2.8 billion). Adjusted pro forma operating profit stood at 14.9 billion (+59 per cent) in the first nine months, whilst in the last quarter the jump was 100 per cent, from 2.99 billion to 5.99 billion.
Descalzi: excellent results
These figures illustrate the Six-Legged Dog’s excellent positioning. It is no coincidence that, when commenting on the performance, CEO Descalzi speaks of ‘excellent results’ stemming from ‘the strength of our operating model and selective investments in our broadly diversified portfolio of competitive assets’. “Thanks to our strong fundamentals, continuously improving growth prospects and historically solid financial performance, we are well positioned to continue ensuring that our customers receive sustainable, secure and increasingly decarbonised energy supplies.”
The extraordinary growth of E&P
The senior executive then goes on to highlight the achievements of the individual business units, starting with the group’s ‘driving force’, exploration and production. “In the third quarter, E&P once again achieved extraordinary organic production growth of 7 per cent, reflecting the start-up of new projects, the full operational capacity of our assets and the benefits arising from the launch of the Searah joint venture in South-East Asia. “During the quarter, we accelerated a series of significant initiatives in South America, Africa and South-East Asia, which will underpin growth and cash generation for years to come,” adds Descalzi. “Finally, thanks to our excellent exploration activities, this year we have discovered 1.23 billion barrels of new hydrocarbon resources, a result well above our budgeted target, whilst reducing exploration costs,” he added.
Gearing at an all-time low and a special dividend in the fourth quarter (46 cents)
As for the other businesses, Descalzi emphasises “that, in addition to growth in the upstream sector and stable results in our gas, power and refining operations, we are achieving performance that exceeds our expectations in the transition businesses, which are contributing increasingly to the diversification of the group’s profits. The capital increase and Plenitude’s new governance structure will enable this subsidiary to grow on a self-financed basis, thereby mitigating the Group’s exposure’. Thanks to our strategic businesses, operational execution and the wide range of options at our disposal, the CEO further explains, “we are able to generate solid and recurring cash flows across a range of market conditions. Based on our fundamentals and the cash generation outlook for the full financial year 2026, with gearing at historic lows, we are further increasing the distribution with an extraordinary dividend of €0.46 per share, payable in the fourth quarter, and are once again increasing the share buyback to €3.8 billion, underlining our commitment to sharing growth with shareholders.”
