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PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Total posted better than expected earnings in the fourth quarter as oil prices stabilised, and said it would change its name as part of a push to diversify and grow renewable power and electricity production. The French oil and gas major, which like rivals suffered in 2020 as fuel consumption tumbled during the pandemic, said it would rebrand as TotalEnergies as it tries over the next decade to reduce oil products to a third of its sales from over half now. The company plunged to a $7.2 billion net loss for 2020 as a whole, hit by around $10 billion of impairments as oil prices collapsed. But it had already recorded most of the charges, including some linked to write downs on its Canadian oil sands assets, in the first half of last year and on an adjusted basis, net income came in at $4.06 billion for the year. Earnings fell less sharply in the fourth quarter than in the previous three months. Adjusted net income, which strips out some one off items, was down 59% from the year earlier period to $1.3 billion, beating analysts’ expectations, and in contrast with some peers including Shell. […]
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