BP Signals Confidence With Share Buyback as Profit Jumps
- Energy giant says it’s adjusting to lower oil prices
- Cash flow, excluding spill payments, exceeds capex, dividends
A BP Plc logo sits on a fore-court canopy at gas station operated by BP Plc in London, U.K., on Tuesday, Feb 2., 2016.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
BP Plc signaled growing confidence the oil-industry downturn is coming to an end by starting to buy back shares issued to help cover its dividend during the price slump.
The company, which doubled third-quarter earnings from a year earlier on robust refining margins and rising production, also pared net debt for the first time in two years. The decision to initiate buybacks, which may cost as much as $400 million a quarter, underscores BP’s improving fortunes after seven tough years dominated first by the costly Macondo oil spill, then a collapse in crude prices.