Italian Eni recorded the highest profits in more than 10 years in 2022

Italian energy group Eni said on Thursday its adjusted net profit rose to 13.3 billion euros ($14.12 billion) in 2022, its highest profit in more than a decade, but its shares fell as markets focused on weak exploration and production activity in the fourth quarter of the year.

Adjusted net profit in the fourth quarter came in at 2.5 billion euros, just above the average forecast of 2.49 billion euros provided by analysts.

The state-controlled group’s increased focus on energy security, coupled with higher energy prices due to the conflict in Ukraine, has led to an improvement in its performance in 2022.

However, the decline in oil and gas prices in the last quarter of the year from their previous peak affected the exploration and production business and its gas and LNG division, which led to a slowdown compared to previous periods.

The group also made progress last year in developing its renewable energy and retail unit (Plenity), which has a production capacity of 2.2 gigawatts of green energy, as well as its newly established sustainable mobility unit.