With more efficient management and the continued recovery of the economy, Brazil's federal State-Owned Enterprises - Petrobras, Eletrobras, the National Development Bank (BNDES), Banco do Brasil and Caixa - registered R$ 15.1 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2018, a 44.8% increase compared to the same period of last year.

The numbers were revealed on Thursday (21) as part of the Federal State-Owned Enterprise Bulletin, a quarterly report published by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Management. "The numbers demonstrate that the balance sheets of federal SOEs continue to evolve positively in the wake of efforts to improve governance and corporate restructuring," the document said.

More profits

Some of the main highlights include the high turnover recorded by the Petrobras group and its increase in market value. The oil company saw a 48% increase in profit (from R$ 4.8 billion to R$ 7.1 billion) between Q1 2017 and Q1 2018, while its market cap has climbed 40.8%. Eletrobras also saw a significant appreciation in the stock market, with a 20.6% increase in market value in the same period.

Less debt

Through more efficient management and spending cuts, Brazil's federal State-owned companies have also been able to reduce their debt. In the first quarter of this year, total indebtedness for Brazilian SOEs was below R$ 400 billion for the first time in four years, the result of a 28.3% drop between December 2015 and March 2018.