BP reveals plans for group-wide costs and business review as profits fall
Chief executive Murray Auchincloss pledged the oil and gas group would do 'better for its investors' and said there was 'much more to do' under its current three-year plan.
BP has been under pressure from shareholders to boost profits and cut costs, with activist investor Elliott Management recently taking a 5% stake in the group.
The group saw half-year profits tumble by nearly a third as weaker oil prices weighed on earnings, although it posted a better-than-expected performance for the second quarter.
It reported a 32% fall in underlying replacement cost profits – the group's preferred profit measure – to 3.73 billion US dollars (£2.81 billion) for the six months to June 30.
Underlying profits fell 15% year-on-year to 2.35 billion dollars (£1.77 billion) between April and June, although this was a significant improvement from 1.38 billion dollars (£1.04 billion) in the first quarter and better than most analysts had forecast.
BP's aims to ramp up its overhaul process follows talks with incoming chairman Albert Manifold who starts next month, Mr Auchincloss said.
Mr Auchincloss said: 'He and I have been in discussions and have agreed that we will conduct a thorough review of our portfolio of businesses to ensure we are maximising shareholder value moving forward.
'We are also initiating a further cost review and, whilst we will not compromise on safety, we are doing this with a view to being best in class in our industry.'
'BP can and will do better for its investors,' he added.
In another move to appease shareholders, the FTSE 100 firm also said it would buy back another 750 million dollars (£565 million) in shares and hike the quarterly dividend payout by 4%.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man United fans say ‘enough is enough' ahead of new protest
A Manchester United supporters' group, The 1958, has announced a new protest against the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The protest will take place on 17 August, marching to Old Trafford before the Premier League opener against Arsenal, with banners reading 'Jim Can't Fix This'. The group criticises the Glazers' two decades of ownership and their 'debt mountain', stating that 'enough is enough'. They accuse Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who acquired a 28.94 per cent stake and operational control in February, of being 'complicit' in the club's ongoing issues by aligning with the Glazers. Ratcliffe previously indicated in March that he would consider leaving if he faced the same level of abuse directed at the Glazer family.
BBC News
10 minutes ago
- BBC News
MPs write to Yorkshire Water over £1.3m payments
A group of Yorkshire Labour MPs have written to the chair of their region's water company to demand answers over "disgraceful" payments made to its chief executive. The MPs, which include Rother Valley's Jake Richards and Bradford West MP Naz Shah, are addressing the £1.3m in previously undisclosed payments paid to Yorkshire Water boss Nicola Shaw. The company has previously defended the payments, saying they were from the firm's parent company Kelda Holdings, which is based offshore. MPs have now written to the company's chair Vanda Murray calling for full transparency over the payments. Richards said: "At a time when constituents are facing a 41% increase in water bills, sewage is polluting our rivers, and pipes are bursting, the CEO is accepting payments that completely contradict her public statements. "Nicola Shaw promised she would decline bonuses out of respect for public anger, while in private she accepts even more money."He said this was the reason why public confidence in water companies was at "rock bottom". Yorkshire Water, which announced a hosepipe ban for millions of users in July, was one of six firms banned from paying "unfair" bonuses to their executives this year.A report in The Guardian said Ms Shaw had received £1.3m in previously undisclosed extra pay since 2023 from Yorkshire Water's parent company, Kelda company said this was for work including "investor engagement, financial oversight, and management of the Kelda Group", and the money came from said the payments were made in addition to her £660,000 salary, and came from Kelda Holdings, which is registered in Jersey. In the letter to Ms Murray, the MPs said: "It is disgraceful that Ms Shaw has publicly refused bonuses and yet discreetly accepted large payments."The also pose a series of detailed questions, including why she was paid £1.3m in addition to her salary, why Yorkshire Water's parent company is based offshore and if Ms Shaw's payments were an indirect substitute for bonuses she had publicly declined? MPs to sign the letter include: Abtisam Mohamed, Sheffield CentralClive Betts, Sheffield South EastRichard Burgon, Leeds EastAnna Dixon, ShipleyJosh Fenton-Glynn, Calder ValleyGill Furniss, Sheffield Brightside and HillsboroughFabian Hamilton, Leeds North EastAlison Hume, Scarborough and WhitbyJake Richards, Rother ValleyNaz Shah, Bradford WestAlex Sobel, Leeds Central and HeadingleyMarie Tidball, Penistone and Stocksbridge Yorkshire Water has been fined several times recently for failures over wastewater and sewage, including in March when it had to pay £40m to the regulator company was ordered to pay more than £900,000 last month after polluting a watercourse with millions of litres of chlorinated water, causing the death of hundreds of in May, the company was ordered to pay £350,000 after a watercourse in North Yorkshire was polluted with hosepipe ban was also introduced on 11 July after a period of very hot and dry weather across the country left reservoir stocks low. Yorkshire Water said it had no additional comment to make regarding the the firm previously said regarding the payments to Ms Shaw from Kelda Holdings, that as part of her role she also does "some work for the benefit of Yorkshire Water's parent company, Kelda Group".This work included "investor engagement, financial oversight, and management of the Kelda Group, which is recognised by a fee of £660k paid by shareholders".It said it did not believe work done on investor-related activities should be paid for by Yorkshire Water company added that the fee "reflects the critical importance of the work during this period that was led by Nicola in securing long-term investment for Yorkshire Water".It said: "We are determined to make improvements to our performance so we can deliver our part in creating a thriving Yorkshire, doing right for our customers and the environment." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Labour's tax raid on private schools is swerved by super-rich parents who avoid £100 million by paying early
Parents at top private schools like Eton escaped £100 million of Labour's tax raid by paying fees early, new analysis suggests. Families have paid up to five years in advance to avoid the new 20 per cent VAT on fees, which came into force on January 1. It means super-rich families, who can afford to pay upfront, were able to avoid the tax while less well-off people still had to pay. Annual accounts reveal the top 50 independent schools held £515 million last year in fees-in-advance schemes, which are used to pay school costs one or more years before they are due. This is up from just £121 million in 2023, according to the investigation by the Daily Telegraph. It suggests parents made the downpayments once Labour committed to the VAT in the run-up to the 2024 election. Parents at these top schools – typically the most expensive – may have avoided up to £103 million in VAT. There are more than 2,600 private schools across the UK, meaning the total figure is expected to be significantly higher. It means the Treasury may have overestimated how much money will eventually be raised by the tax. Mairéad Warren de Búrca, managing director at Alvarez & Marsal Tax, told the Daily Telegraph: 'It's not surprising that schools would have done this type of thing with parents and maybe encouraged parents to jump on the prepayment bandwagon. 'Only the very rich can afford to make those advance payments, so I'm not entirely sure [the Government] have managed to do what they intended.' Labour has repeatedly stated that its VAT raid on private schools will target the wealthiest families, to raise £1.8 billion a year for public services. However, sector leaders have highlighted that it is the smaller, cheaper schools which are being impacted the most. Brighton College, the most expensive private school in the UK, recorded total prepaid fees of £50.1 million in last year's accounts – up from £4.1 million in 2023. The number of pupils covered by the school's fees-in-advance scheme jumped from 86 in 2023 to 819 last year. At Eton College, where fees will reach more than £63,000 next year, the total money in its prepayment scheme rose from £16.6 million in 2023 to £52.7 million last year. Winchester College's fees-in-advance scheme leapt from £4.4 million in 2023 to £19 million in 2024, according to its latest accounts. Such advance payment systems have been commonplace at many of these schools for decades, but the figures indicate a rise in parents using them. The sums cover parents paying in advance for both one year of school fees and for multiple years. According to Labour's rules, all pre-payments have been subject to VAT unless they were made before July 29 2024. However, sources suggested that the Chancellor Rachel Reeves would consider ways to claw back the lost VAT. And a Government spokesman said: 'The OBR has already factored in the increased use of prepayment schemes.'
