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LONDON (Alliance News) - BP PLC Tuesday announced a fall in its fourth-quarter pretax profit but an increase in pretax profit for the full year 2013 overall.
The oil and gas giant said its fourth quarter pretax profit was down 58% to USD1.58 billion from USD3.77 billion in the corresponding period in the previous year, but its full calendar year pretax profit increased to USD31.77 billion from USD19.77 billion.
BP announced a quarterly dividend of 9.5 cents per ordinary share, or USD0.57 per ADS, which is expected to be paid on March 28, 2014. The corresponding amount in sterling will be announced on March 17, it said.
BP said total revenues were up 2.1% in the full year to USD396.22 billion from USD388.07 billion due to strong growth in underlying oil and gas production, particularly from key regions such as the North Sea, Angola and Gulf of Mexico.
The company said the fourth quarter's result also benefited from higher earnings from Rosneft in Russia than reported from the TNK-BP joint venture in the 2012 fourth quarter. BP swapped a 50% holding in TNK-BP for cash plus a 12.84% holding in state-controlled Rosneft in October 2012.
However, BP said total revenues were down 4.7% in the fourth quarter to USD95.10 billion from USD99.81 billion due to the significant impact of BP's divestment programme, weaker refining margins, and higher depreciation and exploration write-offs as the group brought new projects online and increased its investment in exploration.
Looking ahead, BP said it anticipates underlying production in 2014 to be higher than 2013. However, reported production is expected to be lower, reflecting both divestments and a reduction of around 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day due to the expiry in January of its Abu Dhabi onshore concession.
BP announced in October 2013, that it expects to divest a further USD10 billion of its underperforming assets by 2015 and use the proceeds for additional distributions, with a bias to share buybacks. On Tuesday, the company said it has to date agreed to USD1.7 billion of such divestments and will provide investors with further details in the coming months.
The company also reported that the cumulative pretax charge for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was USD42.7 billion at the end of 2013, having increased by USD200 million during the fourth quarter to reflect an increase in the provision for legal costs and ongoing Gulf Coast restoration programme costs.
BP shares were down 0.8% to 469.75 pence in early trading Tuesday.
By Tom McIvor; tommcivor@alliancenews.com; @TomMcIvor1
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