BP posts $2.8 bln second quarter profit, raises dividend
Adds shares in paragraph 3, detail on cost cuts in paragraph 6
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) -BP BP.L increased its dividend and extended its share repurchasing programme on Tuesday as it reported a forecast beating second-quarter profit of $2.76 billion, with weak refining offset by stronger oil prices and retail.
The result will ease pressure on CEO Murray Auchincloss after BP fell short of profit expectations in the previous two quarters.
BP shares jumped 9% shortly after trading started at 0716 GMT, compared with a 0.5% gain on the broader European energy index .SXEP.
The 53-year-old Canadian, who took office in January, has vowed to revamp BP's operations and focus on the most profitable ones, mostly in oil and gas.
In a sign of change from his predecessor Bernard Looney's strategy to grow renewables and reduce fossil fuel output, BP said it had given a green light to the development of the Kaskida oilfield in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a highly complex project in deep geological formations.
The field is expected to start production in 2029 and have a capacity of 80,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).
BP is working to exceed its target to reduce annual costs by $2 billion by the end of 2026, Auchincloss said in an analyst presentation posted online.
"We are driving focus across the business and reducing costs, all while building momentum in our drive to 2025," Auchincloss said in a statement.
WEAK REFINING
BP lifted its dividend by 10% to 8 cents per share from 7.27 cents, in line with analysts' expectations, based on LSEG data.
It also maintained the rate of its share buyback programme at $1.75 billion over the next three months and said it remains committed to buying a total of $14 billion of shares this year and next.
Underlying replacement cost profit, the company's definition of net income, reached $2.76 billion in the three months to June, exceeding a forecast of $2.54 billion in a company-provided survey of analysts.
That compared with a $2.7 billion profit in the previous quarter and $2.6 billion a year earlier.
Weaker refining margins due to lower diesel demand and a higher level of refinery maintenance weighed on the result, but were offset by higher oil and gas prices in the quarter and a lower than expected tax rate. BP's oil trading contribution was weak following a strong showing in the previous quarter, it said.
Last week, France's TotalEnergies reported a 6% drop in second quarter profits, also hurt by a tumble in European refining margins.
BP will maintain capital expenditure at $16 billion per year in 2024 and 2025.
Oil's majors' share performance https://refini.tv/3vXU0jY
BP's quarterly profits BP's quarterly profits https://tmsnrt.rs/3HwK2Z2
Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
