BP's gas woes slashes profit down by 73.6 percent to £2.5bn
Energy giant BP is expected to blame weaker gas prices for its first quarter net profits tumbling 73.6 percent to £2.4billion on Tuesday.
Aside from falling profits, analysts believe that BP is likely to say that its revenues for period January to March dropped 13.4 percent to £39billion.
Like its arch rival Shell last week, BP is expected to say that it saw weaker performances from all its business segments, with the exception of a flat result from its oil production and operations arm.
Danni Hewson, AJ Bell's head of financial analysis, said: "Natural gas may have a bigger impact on BP's profits than many expect. Its gas and low carbon energy unit was the biggest earner a year ago, but earnings have since slumped as the natural gas price has retreated."
Last week arch rival Shell reported a fall in its net profits due to lower gas prices, down 15.2 percent to £5.9billion. Its revenues for the first three months of 2024, Shell produced revenues of £57.9billion, down 16.7 percent.
Although its profits fell, Shell cheered markets by beating analysts' profit forecasts by £799million. It also pleased investors by announcing plans to buy back a further £2.8billion of its shares to reward investors, having already spent as much this year doing so. It kept its dividend unchanged at 34.4 US cents (27.5p) per share, a payout worth over £2billion to investors.
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