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BP Plc boosted share buybacks after higher oil and gas prices delivered a big rise in fourth-quarter profit.
The London-based company followed its Big Oil peers Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Shell Plc, all of which are pouring money back to investors after years of paltry returns. BP will repurchase another $1.5 billion of shares using surplus 2021 cash flow before it announces first-quarter results later this year.
“We’ve strengthened the balance sheet and grown returns,” Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said in a statement on Tuesday. “We’ve made strong progress in our transformation to an integrated energy company.”
The results show how far BP has come since the start of the pandemic, having paid off more than $8 billion of net debt over the past year and also increased its dividend. The company also pledged to moderately increase investments, albeit from a historically low level. By 2025, BP plans to devote more than 40% of its capital expenditure to energy-transition businesses.
Adjusted net income was $4.07 billion for the period, up from $115 million a year earlier and beating the average analyst estimate of $3.87 billion. Operating cash flow was $6.12 billion, compared with $2.27 billion a year earlier.
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