The London based BP oil company has seen its profits surge to the highest in almost a decade, thanks to rising crude and gas prices.
Per Second News reports that BP boosted share buybacks and followed Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron in pouring money back to investors after years of paltry returns.
BP will repurchase another $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) of shares using surplus 2021 cash flow before it announces first-quarter results later this year.
Chief executive Bernard Looney said BP had “strengthened the balance sheet and grown returns” and had “made strong progress in our transformation to an integrated energy company.”
Adjusted net income was $4.07 billion (£3 billion) for the period, up from $115 million (£85 million) a year earlier and beating the average analyst estimate of $3.87 billion (£2.86 billion). Operating cash flow was $6.12 billion (£4.53 billion), compared with $2.27 billion (£1.68 billion) a year earlier.
The company reported “a significantly lower oil trading result and an average contribution from gas marketing and trading and the impact of higher energy costs.”
The results leave little doubt about the massive gains BP has made since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. It has paid off more than $8 billion (£5.92 billion) of net debt over the past year and also increased its dividend. The company also pledged to moderately increase investments, albeit from a historically low level.
This year the company’s capital expenditure will be between $14 billion (£10.36 billion) and $15 billion (£11.1 billion), and remain around that range until 2025. Last year the figure was $12.8 billion (£9.47 billion).
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