Station-service BP (British Petroleum) à Liverpool
by Ron Bousso
BP announced on Tuesday a profit of 2.3 billion dollars (2.13 billion euros) in the third quarter, the lowest in almost four years, in particular due to a drop in profits in refining.
The group posted a 30% drop in profit over one year in a context of slowdown in global economic activity and oil demand, particularly in China.
Under pressure, chief executive Murray Auchincloss has pledged to improve BP's performance as investors worry about the company's energy transition strategy.
BP's underlying profit at replacement cost (net profit), however, reached $2.27 billion in the third quarter, beating forecasts of $2.05 billion according to a survey of analysts provided by the Company.
These results are the group's weakest since the fourth quarter of 2020, when profit collapsed during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The energy giant kept its dividend at 8 cents per share and kept the pace of its share buyback program unchanged at $1.75 billion over the next three months.
(Reporting Ron Bousso; French version Etienne Breban, editing by Kate Entringer)