- Investors hope oil giant will tear up green strategy as activist builds stake
The chief executive of BP has vowed to ‘fundamentally reset’ the group’s strategy after its profits fell by more than a third last year.
Investors who have called for the energy giant to tear up its green strategy are hoping that BP will go back to oil and gas when it reveals the plans in a fortnight.
The announcement comes days after activist investor Elliott Investment Management was widely reported to have bought a stake in BP.
The US fund’s stake-building sent BP shares jumping 7.4 per cent higher yesterday, on investor hopes it will spur a strategy rethink and board overhaul.
BP today posted a 36 per cent drop in underlying replacement cost profits, the company’s preferred earnings measure, to £7.22billion for 2024.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 firm’s fourth quarter earnings fell by more than expected, down 61 per cent year-on-year to £947million, representing the weakest result since 2020, amid stagnant oil prices and weak oil refining margins.
New strategy: The boss of BP has vowed to ‘fundamentally reset’ the group’s strategy
Chief executive Murray Auchincloss said: ‘Building on the actions taken in the last 12 months, we now plan to fundamentally reset our strategy and drive further improvements in performance, all in service of growing cash flow and returns.’
He said it would be a ‘new direction for BP’, with the firm set to unveil further details at a keenly-awaited strategy update on 26 February.
Auchincloss has been working towards rebuilding investor confidence in the company, following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor Bernard Looney in September 2023 for failing to disclose relationships with employees.
The company’s quarterly earnings were dragged down by weaker realised refining margins. Its fourth-quarter average refining marker margin stood at $13.1 per barrel, down from last year’s $18.5 per barrel.
On a statutory basis, BP saw replacement cost profits plummet to £607million last year, down from £13.1billion in 2023.
BP joins other oil majors that have experienced a decline in earnings throughout 2024, following record earnings in the previous two years, as energy prices stabilised and global oil demand weakened.
Looking ahead, BP said it expected its first quarter 2025 upstream production to be lower compared with the final quarter of 2024.
It added: ‘In its customers business, BP expects seasonally lower volumes compared to the fourth quarter. In addition, BP expects fuels margins to remain sensitive to movements in cost of supply and earnings delivery to remain sensitive to the relative strength of the US dollar.’
BP shares slipped 0.32p to 464.84p on Tuesday, having fallen over 3 per cent in the last year.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: ‘Expectations were low going into the final quarter and full-year numbers and, unfortunately, BP has duly delivered.
‘BP is aiming to mitigate some of this pressure, and cost savings of $800million for the year go some way towards an ambitious $2billion target by 2026.’
On BP’s share price, Hunter said: ‘A slightly stronger oil price and the latest buzz of speculation around Elliott Management has resulted in the shares having spiked by 25 per cent over the last three months.
‘Even so, this has not been enough to prevent a decline of 3 per cent over the last year, as compared to a gain of 16 per cent for the wider FTSE 100, and a drop of 17 per cent over the last two years.
‘It seems most unlikely that the neutral view of the group will change ahead of the strategic update, with the market consensus confining the shares to a hold, albeit a strong one.’
DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS
AJ Bell
AJ Bell
Easy investing and ready-made portfolios
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown
Free fund dealing and investment ideas
interactive investor
interactive investor
Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month
Saxo
Saxo
Get £200 back in trading fees
Trading 212
Trading 212
Free dealing and no account fee
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.
