A man runs past a BP (British Petroleum) EV (Electric Vehicle) charge point in London, Britain, January 30, 2021. Picture taken January 30, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melvilleon Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings of $3.3 billion, missing analysts’ forecasts, as strong oil trading and refining margins were offset by weak gas results.
The British company maintained its dividend unchanged at 7.27 cents per share and extended its $1.5 billion share buyback programme over the next three months. The third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, the company’s definition of net income, missed forecasts of $4 billion in a company-provided survey of analysts, mainly due to significantly lower earnings from its gas and low carbon division.
“We remain committed to executing our strategy, expect to grow earnings through this decade, and are on track to deliver strong returns for our shareholders,” interim CEO Murray Auchincloss said in a statement. headtopics.com
The $3.3 billion earning compared with a $2.6 billion profit in the second quarter and $8.15 billion a year earlier. The results rose from the second quarter due to higher oil and gas production, strong refining margins, lower refinery maintenance and “a very strong oil trading result”.The company expects industry refining margins in the fourth quarter to be “significantly lower” than in the third.
BP expects capital expenditure of $16 billion this year – at the lower end of its indicated range of $16-$18 billion. Ron has covered since 2014 the world’s top oil and gas companies, focusing on their efforts to shift into renewables and low carbon energy and the sector’s turmoil during the COVID-19 pandemic and following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He has been named Reporter of the Year in 2014 and 2021 by Reuters. Before Reuters, Ron reported on equity markets in New York in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis after covering conflict and diplomacy in the Middle East for AFP out of Israel. headtopics.com