British oil giant BP PLC yesterday said that it rebounded into first-quarter net profit as oil prices recovered from a slump amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earnings after taxation were US$4.7 billion in the three months to the end of last month, BP said in a results statement.
That contrasted sharply with a net loss of US$4.4 billion in the same period last year, when pandemic restrictions had savaged oil demand and prices.
Photo: AFP
The company, whose performance was also boosted by a series of asset sales, said that it would begin share buybacks this quarter.
“With the acceleration of divestment proceeds, together with strong business performance and the recovery in the price environment, we generated strong cash flow and delivered on our net debt target around a year early,” BP chief executive officer Bernard Looney said. “We are commencing share buybacks in the second quarter, which alongside our resilient dividend, support the growth in distributions to shareholders.”
BP’s replacement cost profit — a measure stripping out exceptional items and changes in the value of oil inventories — soared to US$2.6 billion in the first quarter.
“This result was driven by an exceptional gas marketing and trading performance, significantly higher oil prices and higher refining margins,” BP said in the statement.
The price of oil has returned to pre-pandemic levels, hovering at about US$65 a barrel, with industry predictions that it will rise above US$80 in the next few months.
“The oil market is set to continue its rebalancing process,” BP said. “Oil demand is expected to recover in 2021 due to strong growth in US and China, and as the distribution of vaccinations gains momentum and lockdown restrictions are gradually lifted.”
“OPEC+ behavior is a key factor in oil prices and market rebalancing,” it said, referring to a group of 24 oil-producing nations that includes 10 non-OPEC members.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
RSS