BP keeps dividend, debt climbs

BP’s first-quarter profit tumbled by two thirds and its debt climbed to its highest in at least five years as the coronavirus crisis hammered oil demand, but the energy major kept its dividend despite warning of exceptional uncertainty.

London-based BP said it expected significantly lower refining margins in the second quarter when global restrictions on movement to halt the spread of the virus reached their peak, throttling consumption of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

“I can see many reasons why this recovery will take longer and therefore I think we’re in this for quite some time,” Chief Executive Bernard Looney, who took over in February, told Reuters.

BP said it had amended financial terms of the $5.6 billion sale of its Alaska business to privately held Hilcorp Energy Co following the recent slump in oil prices, which may lead to a lower cash boost than initially planned.

The new agreement retains the original sale price but provides for vendor financing, smaller payments in 2020 and for cash-flow sharing in the near term, the British oil major said.

The company said oil and gas production faced “significant uncertainties” linked to tumbling oil demand and plunging prices, as well as due to a deal between OPEC, Russia and other producers to cut global supplies of crude by about 10%.

BP reported an underlying replacement cost profit, its definition of net income, of $800 million, beating the $710 million forecast by analysts in a company-provided poll. The company reported $2.4 billion profit a year earlier.

But BP, whose net debt climbed to its highest since at least 2015, kept its dividend of 10.5 cents per share and said it had repurchased shares worth $776 million in the quarter.

Reuters