* Profit down 26% on weak oil, gas prices, but beats
forecasts
* Completes $1.5 billion share buyback programme
* Shares jump 3.5%
(Adds details, comments, shares)
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - BP raised its dividend and
said it had completed a $1.5 billion share buyback programme in
a sign of confidence in its growing oil and gas business on the
last day in office for Chief Executive Bob Dudley.
BP shares jumped 3.5% in early Tuesday trading.
As Bernard Looney prepares to take the helm, BP struck a
positive tone even as oil prices slumped to a near year-low on
concerns over China's coronovirus, bucking a trend among peers
that reported a sharp slowdown in revenues last week.
The shareholder rewards came as the London-based company
reported a 26% drop in fourth-quarter profit, which easily beat
forecasts, and $2.7 billion in charges.
Cash flow rose by more than 10% in 2019 to $25.8 billion,
despite lower commodity prices, as a result of higher production
- particularly in U.S. shale following the acquisition of BHP
assets.
Still, BP's debt and debt-to-capital ratio, known as
gearing, both rose by the end of 2019 from a year earlier, even
as BP sold $9.4 billion of assets, underlying the strain oil
companies face as demand for fuels and chemicals weakened last
year.
"Solid delivery in a tough environment," Redburn analyst
Stuart Joyner concluded in a note, adding the focus would be on
reducing debt.
Rivals ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and
Chevron reported sharp drops in 2019 revenues due to
softer demand, particularly in Asia.
Dudley, 64, bows out after a decade at BP's helm. He was
abruptly ushered in as CEO in October 2010 after his predecessor
Tony Hayward stepped down in the wake of the deadly Deepwater
Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
He has since led the company through a deep and long
downturn and rising pressure from investors to adapt to the
transition to more renewable energy.
Looney, who takes over on Wednesday, is planning to expand
BP's climate targets and is considering a major overhaul to the
structure of the 111-year-old company.
"I am proud to be handing over a safer and stronger BP to
Bernard and his team. I am confident that under their
leadership, BP will continue to successfully navigate the
rapidly-changing energy landscape," Dudley said in a statement.
BP increased its dividend by 2.4% to 10.5 cents per share,
the second increase since the BHP acquisition.
It reported $2.57 billion in fourth-quarter underlying
replacement cost profit, its definition of net income, exceeding
forecasts of $2.1 billion in a company-provided survey of
analysts.
That was down from $3.5 billion a year earlier but up from
$2.3 billion in the third quarter.
Oil and gas production in 2019, including BP's stake in
Russian oil giant Rosneft, rose 2.7 percent from a
year earlier to 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Jason Neely and Mark
Potter)