UK oil giant BP has emerged from the last few months of instability with a set of results beating analyst forecasts, despite a halve in profits from the year prior.
The firm’s new boss Murray Auchincloss committed to a $3.5bn buyback through the first six months of next year, with a plan to deliver as much as $14bn by the end of the next financial year.
The fossil fuel titan’s bumper 2022 profits of $27.6bn fell 49.6 per cent to $13.86bn as oil and gas prices cooled and refining profit margins thinned.
The firm’s three month earning window to close out the year brought in $2.9bn against $4.8bn a year prior.
Adjusted EBITDA fell 28 per cent year on year from $60.7bn to $43.7bn, but BP shareholders received $15.2bn for the full-year 2023.
“Looking back, 2023 was a year of strong operational performance with real momentum in delivery right across the business,” said Auchincloss.
“And as we look ahead, our destination remains unchanged – from IOC to IEC – focused on growing the value of BP – we are confident in our strategy, on delivering as a simpler, more focused and higher-value company, and committed to growing long-term value for our shareholders.”
Auchincloss, the firm’s former chief financial officer, stepped into the top job on a wait-and-see basis last year after boss Bernard Looney was sacked, and was fully minted in the new role last month.
There has been much speculation as to whether Auchincloss would continue the green strategy promised by Looney in his stewardship of the firm, which has exponentially lost ground on primary competitor Shell in recent years.
The firm’s 2023 results show that capital expenditure on gas and low carbon energy projects ticked up by only 0.7 per cent for 2023 against year prior whereas spending across the firm’s oil operations leapt 19 per cent to $6.2bn.
Late last week, the company appointed Kate Thomson as chief financial officer, the first woman to hold the job in the company’s history.
Net debt has dropped to $20.9bn for the full year from $21.2bn the year prior.