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Highlights

  • At Thursday's closing price, WDS's annual dividend yield is over 11%.
  • WDS has been a consistent dividend payer, and the company has been focussing on expanding its energy asset portfolio globally.
  • Its net profit after tax (NPAT) jumped by 228% to USD 6.49 billion in the previous fiscal from USD 1.98 billion in FY21.

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares ended 0.98% higher at AUD 32.950 on Thursday, 4 May 2023, despite a sharp drop in crude oil price overnight. At today's closing price, WDS's annual dividend yield is over 11%. It is worth mentioning that the stock has such a high dividend yield despite gaining by nearly 6% in the last year, compared to a 1.5% drop in the broader S&P/ASX 200 index.

For the uninitiated, WDS has been a consistent dividend payer, focusing on expanding its energy asset portfolio globally. With the acquisition of BHP Group's oil and gas division, the company has expanded its production capacity massively. Let’s scan through the company’s financials to understand its fundamentals.

WDS Financial Performance

For the financial year ended 31 December 2022, its production increased by nearly 73% annually to 157.7 MMboe. As a result, Woodside's operating revenue jumped by almost 142% to USD 16.8 billion compared to USD 6.96 billion in FY21. This revenue growth was driven by its merger with BHP's petroleum business and higher oil & gas prices.

Meanwhile, its net profit after tax (NPAT) jumped by 228% to USD 6.49 billion in the previous fiscal from USD 1.98 billion in FY21. Here is how its revenue and net income have grown over the last four years:

Now, given that the company has already guided for over 17% higher production in FY23, its revenues are expected to grow further, unless a major drop happens in energy prices compared to FY22.

In the previous fiscal, Woodside paid a total dividend of USD 2.53 per share, 87% higher than the full-year dividend of FY21.

For the January-March quarter of this year, Woodside reported a production of 46.8 MMboe and sales volume of 50.4 MMboe, up 122% and 112% year-on-year, respectively. Its revenue for the quarter stood at USD 4.3 billion, 81% higher than pcp.

WDS Shareholding

Institutional investors have a large shareholding in this company, with the top 10 shareholders being pension funds and asset management companies. Its top 10 investors have a combined shareholding of 23.88% in WDS.  

WDS Share Price Performance

Recent weakness in crude oil prices has weighed on the stock price performance of WDS, which is down 4.24% in one month till today and 10.32% in the last six months. However, on a yearly basis, the stock has delivered a positive return of 5.81%. Here is the one-year price chart of WDS.

WDS Daily Price Chart sourced from REFINITIV

Note 1: Past performance is neither an Indicator nor a guarantee of future performance. 

Note 2: The reference date for all price data, currency, is 2 May 2023. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from REFINITIV.