BP Plc hiked its dividend and promised to buy back more shares, capping a second-quarter earnings season that has seen Big Oil continue to prioritize returns to investors.
“This is surprising given the weaker underlying result and an increase in net debt,” Redburn analyst Stuart Joyner said in a note on Tuesday. “But with the sector increasingly trading on yield again, it could boost the shares this morning.” “The miss is concentrated in refining,” Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said in an interview with Bloomberg. “Margins were quite weak, particularly in diesel” in Europe and at its Whiting refinery in the US.
BP is sticking to its plan for capital expenditure of US$16 billion to US$18 billion this year. So far it's spent US$7.9 billion, putting it on pace to reach the lower end of this range.