BP Profit on Target

BP Profit on Target
BP boosted cash flow and hit the target on profit estimates in the first quarter as rising oil and gas production and strong trading results offset the effect of lower prices.

BP is paying for the BHP assets in cash installments, and still has liabilities to cover associated with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Those combined outflows pushed the company’s gearing -- the ratio of net debt to total debt plus equity -- to 30.4 percent, the highest level in at least a decade.

The company plans to reduce debt by selling $10 billion of assets over two years. In the first quarter, its divestments totaled $600 million while Gilvary said BP has already received “indicative bids” on three packages of U.S. onshore assets. He reiterated that gearing would return to the 20 to 30 percent target range next year.

BP repurchased 6 million ordinary shares at a cost of $50 million in the first quarter and said the bulk of its share buyback program would be weighted to the second half of the year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelly Gilblom in London at kgilblom@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net Helen Robertson, Christopher Sell


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