UPDATE: BP achieves 18% bump in underlying RC profit in Q4

BP saw its underlying replacement cost (RC) profit rise by 18% year/year in the fourth quarter of 2022, the UK major reported on February 7, as strong earnings from most of its segments more than offset the impact of discounting its stake in sanctioned Russian oil company Rosneft.

Underlining RC profit came to $4.81bn in the three-month period, up from $4.07bn in the previous quarter but down from $8.15bn in the fourth quarter of 2021.

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BP earned $16.4bn from its gas and low carbon energy business, up from a mere $1.91bn a year earlier, while its customers and products division booked $771mn in profit, versus a loss of $426mn. Oil production and operations saw earnings slump to $1.69bn, from $3.21bn a year earlier, however.

"We are strengthening BP, with our strongest upstream plant reliability on record and our lowest production costs in 16 years, helping to generate strong returns and reducing debt for the 11th quarter in a row," BP CEO Bernard Looney said in a statement. "Importantly, we are delivering for our shareholders – with buybacks and a growing dividend."

BP curbed its net debt to $21.4bn at the end of the fourth quarter, from $22bn three months earlier. The company completed $3.2bn in share buybacks during the fourth quarter and also has announced a further $2.75bn in buybacks before it publishes its results for the first quarter of this year. It announced a dividend/share of $0.06610 for the fourth quarter, representing an increase of around 10%.

BP reported $555mn in income from its 19.75% stake in Rosneft in the fourth quarter of 2022, but has now excluded this stake from its financial data. The UK major committed to withdrawing from the company and winding up all its other operations in Russia days after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February last year.