BP PLC (BP) is a London, United Kingdom-headquartered British integrated oil and gas company. The group is a global energy business with wide reach across the world's energy system and has vertically integrated operations; ranging from exploration and production of oil and natural gas to marketing chemicals. The company’s operations are differentiated in three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Rosneft. It has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange with secondary listings on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
BP Plc’s first quarter ending 31st March 2019 profits dipped by one third approximately but managed to beat the forecasted figures. The higher production and a strong trading performance helped the company to offset the low revenue which was due to low oil and gas prices in the market and weak refining margins. There was a sectoral downturn in 2014 for the oil and gas industry. BP was able to maintain track recovery for more than the last 18 months. The first quarter downfall was the first hurdle in BP’s speedy recovery.
In the official statement issued by the company, Bob Dudley, the Chief Executive Officer said, the company was able to generate a strong profit and a good cash flow in the unstable period which was created because of poor market conditions and the large number of turn arounds.
BP Plc Share Price Performance
Daily Chart as at April-30-19, before the market close (Source: Thomson Reuters)
On 30th April 2019, at the time of writing (before the market close, GMT 02:34 PM), BP Plc shares were trading at GBX 561.10, up by 1.56 per cent against its previous day closing price. Stock's 52 weeks High and Low is GBX 603.60/GBX 481.35. At the time of writing, the share was trading 7.04 per cent lower than its 52w High and 16.57 per cent higher than its 52w low. The outstanding market capitalisation was around £113.73 billion with a dividend yield of 5.64 per cent.
Exxon Mobil, Total and Chevron are BP’s rival companies. All the companies had experienced a decline in their profits in the first quarter ending March 31. The higher production of gas and oil were offset by lower revenue from refining activities mainly because of low oil and gas prices in the market. Exxon Mobil posted its first loss from its refining operations since the year 2009.
BP Plc’s underlying net income (replacement cost profit) for the first quarter was $2.4 billion which was over and above the forecasted value of $2.3 billion as per the data provided by the company. The operating cash flow also fell to $5.3 billion which was over 20 per cent down as compared to the previous quarter. At the end of the first quarter, net debt stood at $45.1 billion. As a result of acquisition of BHP & accounting reporting changes, BP’s gearing ratio surged marginally to 30.4 per cent at the end of Q1 FY19.
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