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LONDON (Alliance News) - BP PLC on Tuesday said it swung to a loss in the first quarter of 2016 compared to a year earlier, but its loss was an improvement on the fourth quarter of 2015.
The FTSE 100-listed oil and gas major said its loss for the first quarter was USD583.0 million, compared to a USD2.6 billion profit a year earlier. The loss narrowed from the USD3.3 billion loss made in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Underlying replacement cost profit, the preferred measure for analysts, fell to USD532.0 million from USD2.58 billion a year earlier but again improved on the USD196.0 million profit in the fourth quarter.
BP said its replacement cost profit slipped in its downstream business to USD1.88 billion from USD2.08 billion a year earlier, while its upstream business swung to a loss of USD1.21 billion from a USD372.0 million profit.
Total production in the quarter was 2.43 billion barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 5.2% year-on-year. BP expects production in the second quarter to fall against the first, reflecting seasonality and maintenance activity on its assets.
BP said it would pay a 10.00 US cents dividend for the quarter, flat year-on-year.
The group said it booked a net pretax charge of USD917.0 million in the quarter, including costs related to the settlement for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.
Total capital expenditure in the quarter was USD4.0 billion, compared to USD4.5 billion in same period a year earlier.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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