By Shadia Nasralla
LONDON (Reuters) -BP will review its portfolio of assets and consider further cost cuts as part of a drive to do better for shareholders, the oil major said on Tuesday, as it reported a second-quarter profit that easily beat expectations.
Under pressure to improve profitability, not least from activist investor Elliott, CEO Murray Auchincloss earlier this year announced plans to sell $20 billion of assets through to 2027, reduce spending and share buybacks, and cut costs.
On Tuesday,
he signalled further action might follow, without giving details.
"We will conduct a thorough review of our portfolio of businesses to ensure we are maximizing shareholder value moving forward – allocating capital effectively. We are also initiating a further cost review," Auchincloss said.
"BP can and will do better for its investors.”
BP has a target to cut costs by $4-$5 billion from 2023 levels by the end of 2027, of which it has achieved $1.7 billion, it said.
The company posted a second-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, or adjusted net income, of $2.4 billion, down 14% from last year's $2.8 billion, but easily beating the average $1.8 billion in a company-provided poll of analysts.
Its quarterly dividend will rise to 8.32 cents from 8 cents in the first quarter and it will keep the pace of its share buyback programme, making a further $750 million of purchases by the time of its third-quarter results, it said.
BP's shares have markedly lagged peers since its 2020 foray into renewables under previous CEO Bernard Looney.
Since Auchincloss's strategy revamp in February, BP's shares have lost around 3.5%, compared with rises of around 2.4% for rivals Shell and Exxon, as of Monday.
(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla. Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)
