Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras (PBR), which was expected to release its third-quarter 2014 results on November 14, shocked the investing world by putting off its earnings till December in the wake of a corruption scandal.
Petrobras' high-profile officials are allegedly involved in ‘multi-billion dollar laundering and bribery' charges. This spike in corruption issues took the company's second former executive into custody the day it was slated to report earnings.
Petrobras is the largest publicly traded Latin American oil company, dominating Brazil's oil and gas sector. The company has been headed by president Dilma Rousseff from 2003 to 2010, per Bloomberg.
Bloomberg also noted that “PwC informed the company last month it wouldn't sign off on results and would alert U.S. authorities if appropriate action wasn't taken to probe the allegations, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.”
If this was not enough, the Brazilian government, the company's majority shareholder, has a history of political interference in Petrobras' affairs. Per that intervention, Petrobras has been asked not to pass on high refining costs to consumers and to ‘sell gas at a loss' to rein in inflation.
Market Impact
Bloomberg indicated that Petrobras has the most awful performance among key global oil producers over the ...
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