The oil giant said that reported profit for the first quarter came in at
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Underlying replacement cost (RC) profit, BP’s preferred metric, was
It said that the increase was driven by an “exceptional” trading performance, as well as significantly higher oil prices and refining margins.
Shares in the firm rose 2.2 per cent as markets opened, with analysts saying the results were all the market could have hoped for.
The decision to kick off the share buyback programme comes after
It has previously committed to returning 60 per cent of surplus cash to shareholders through such programmes, with the remainder to go into shoring up its balance sheet.
Over the quarter, the
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This was helped by a further
Chief executive
“We are commencing share buybacks in the second quarter which, alongside our resilient dividend, support the growth in distributions to shareholders.”
Investors ‘couldn’t ask for more from BP’
Commenting on the results, Hargreaves Lansdown’s
“The company has seized the opportunity of a recovery in energy prices to pay down its debts, leaving it well set for the future when conditions might not be so favourable.
“Crucially, BP’s cost control has left it able to generate surplus cash at oil prices as low as
Interactive Investor equity analyst
“More favourably, the return of a share buyback programme is a clear positive. The tough decision to cut the dividend is now behind it, with a current dividend yield in the region of 5 per cent still highly attractive in an era of ultra-low interest rates”, he said.
“In all, and with significant action already taken under the relatively new CEO making an impact, market consensus opinion is likely to continue pointing towards a buy.”
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It bought two 60 year leases in the
The assets are part of a 3.7 gigawatt pipeline of offshore wind that
The firm kept its dividend steady at
The post
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