BP (NYSE:BP) on Tuesday reported bumper first-quarter profits and boosted share buybacks, despite posting a massive loss after offloading its nearly-20% stake in Russian-controlled oil company Rosneft.
The oil and gas giant’s first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, jumped to its highest level in more than a decade as it came in at $6.2 billion.
That compared with a profit of $4.1 billion in the fourth quarter and $2.6 billion for the first quarter of 2021. Analysts had expected BP to report first-quarter profit of $4.5 billion.
The oil and gas giant also announced a further $2.5 billion in share buybacks.
However, BP reported a headline loss for the quarter of $20.4 billion. This included non-cash pre-tax charges of $24 billion and $1.5 billion relating to the exit of its Rosneft stake in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
CEO Bernard Looney said trading had a “very good” start to the year and net debt — which fell to $27.5 billion — was reduced for the eighth consecutive quarter.
When asked to provide further details on how the company plans to extricate itself from Russia, Looney replied: “We have been very, very clear. We are announcing our intention to leave the country. We made that decision as I said very, very quickly and like any commercial process that’s ongoing, we wouldn’t comment and I’d rather not comment on that this morning.”
BP shares climbed $1.62, or 5.6%, to $30.48.
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