2025 Financial Reports: ECB Posts Loss, Italy's Eni with Record Profit

The European Central Bank published its financial report for 2025, which once again shows a negative financial result. The net loss amounted to €1.25 billion, representing a decrease of over 80 percent compared to the record loss in 2024 (€7.9 billion). The main reasons for the deficit remain interest costs paid to national central banks as part of monetary policy and losses from the valuation of securities. However, the institute forecasts a return to profitability in 2026, which is closely correlated with planned interest rate cuts in the eurozone. It is worth noting that despite the losses, ECB directors received raises – Christine Lagarde's salary increased to €492,000 per year. A completely different situation is presented by the European extraction and chemical sector. Italian conglomerate Eni reported an adjusted net profit for 2025 of €4.98 billion. The fourth quarter was particularly impressive, with net profit rising 35 percent year-on-year to reach €1.2 billion. CEO Claudio Descalzi emphasized that the company is effectively increasing oil and gas extraction while dynamically developing renewable energy sources. German chemical giant BASF also returned to generating profits, which is attributed to a rigorous operational cost reduction program. The situation where central banks record losses is not new in financial history, but the current cycle at the ECB is the longest and most costly since the institution's creation in 1998.In Latin America, the mood is mixed. Argentine oil group YPF announced a record EBITDA result of $5 billion for last year and forecasts further growth to around $6 billion in 2026. The company's strategy focuses on the most profitable shale deposits. Counterbalancing these successes are the results of Mexican conglomerate Pemex, which closed 2025 with a loss exceeding €2.2 billion. The problems of the Mexican giant stem from enormous debt and declining productivity of old refineries, which impacts the budgetary stability of the entire country. „Our monetary policy is delivering on its mandate to curb inflation, even if its trajectory is temporarily mirrored in the bank's financial statements.” — Christine Lagarde From a market perspective, 2025 appears as a time of stabilization after the energy shock caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The drop in commodity prices affected refinery margins, but increased operational efficiency allowed most European giants to maintain an attractive dividend policy for shareholders.