British Petroleum (BP) has raised its quarterly dividend payment to stockholders by 10% even as the oil major reported a 70% year-over-year decline in its second-quarter profit.
The London-based company, commonly known as “BP,” reported a Q2 net profit of $2.6 billion U.S., which was down sharply from $8.5 billion U.S. recorded a year earlier.
Analysts who cover the company had forecast a Q2 profit of $3.5 billion at BP, according to Refinitiv data.
BP said the poor results were due mostly to lower prices for crude oil and natural gas during the April through June period, as well as lower refining margins.
Despite the Q2 earnings downturn, BP announced that it is raising its quarterly dividend by 10% to $0.0727 per share.
The company also said it plans to repurchase $1.5 billion U.S. of its own stock in the current third quarter.
BP is the latest oil producer to report lower year-over-year earnings coming off record prices for crude oil seen in June 2022.
For all of last year, BP reported a record annual profit of $27.7 billion U.S. as the price of crude oil peaked at $122 U.S. a barrel.
BP’s stock has risen 28% over the last 12 months to trade at $37.30 U.S. per share.
