Profit from companies listed on the Stock Exchange is up 125% in the quarter

Publicly traded Brazilian companies are strongly recovering their profits. The balance sheets released so far, which represent the majority of those listed on the Stock Exchange, showed a positive performance in the third quarter compared not only to 2020, but also to 2019, before the pandemic.

According to a survey by Economatica, the net profit of the 291 companies with shares in the B3 totaled BRL 128.24 billion, representing an increase of 125% compared to the third quarter of 2020 and 139% compared to 2019. Vale e Petrobras represent 40% of this number, benefiting from the rise of commodities.

Excluding both, companies’ net income grew 78%, to R$76.89 billion, driven by the results of banks, which are traditionally the most profitable sector among those represented on the Stock Exchange.

The banks had an aggregate net profit of BRL 24.15 billion in the third quarter, a sum that exceeds by 38% the profit in the same quarter of last year and by 12.5% ​​the one registered in the same three months of 2019.

In a third group, in which all companies in the financial sector and the giants Vale and Petrobras are excluded, the companies’ net income also stands out.

The earnings of listed companies were BRL 49.87 billion, an increase of 140.6% compared to the third quarter of 2020 and 354.9% above 2019.

For Einar Rivero, institutional relationship manager at Economatica, the numbers show a solid performance by publicly-held companies. He also draws attention to data on the indebtedness and cash of third-party companies, which he defines as healthy.

“We see that companies’ debt grew below inflation, considering the IPCA (Broad National Consumer Price Index) in the last 12 months, which is surpassing 10%”, he says.

Sectors

The food and beverage and electricity sectors drove the expansion in the results of non-financial companies. The food and beverage sector registered an aggregate net profit of BRL 12.93 billion, while the electricity sector closed the period with a profit of BRL 14.14 billion.

Commerce, in turn, saw profit advance 41% compared to 2019, with an increase in consumption amidst the pandemic. The sector earned R$ 88 billion in the third quarter of this year.

Despite the picture being positive, the Ibovespa accumulates a drop of more than 12% this year and almost 9% in one month. The investment analyst at Mirae Asset Corretora, Pedro Galdi, says that the losses of several stocks, despite their results, are purely a reflection of risk aversion.

“Companies can have an excellent result and the paper may not have an equivalent performance, because it is a matter of risk aversion. This is the scenario at the moment”, he commented.

The information is from the newspaper The State of São Paulo.