Eni raises dividend and production targets in new plan

LONDON/MILAN: Italian oil and gas group Eni raised its dividend on Friday and held out the promise of a share buyback as it ramped up production and cash flow targets.

In its 2018-2021 plan, the major said it would pay a dividend this year of 0.83 euros per share compared to 0.80 euros on last year's results.

It also said a share buyback remained an option to distribute excess cash versus a leverage target of 0.20-0.25.  Oil and gas output over the period will grow an average of 3.5 percent per year compared to the 3 percent target in the previous plan.

Investments will be flat on the previous plan at less than 32 billion euros ($39.44 billion), it said.