BP accelerates overhaul with higher asset sale target as profits beat forecasts

BP has said it is ramping up overhaul efforts with aims to sell off more parts of the business and strip out further costs as it posted a smaller-than-feared drop in quarterly profits.

The oil giant reported underlying replacement cost profits, the group’s preferred earnings measure, of 2.21 billion US dollars (£1.68 billion) for the three months to September 30.

This was 3% lower than a year earlier, and 6% down on the previous quarter, but better than the 2.02 billion US dollars (£1.54 billion) expected by most analysts.

Murray Auchincloss, chief executive of BP, said: “We are looking to accelerate delivery of our plans, including undertaking a thorough review of our portfolio to drive simplification and targeting further improvements in cost performance and efficiency.”

The energy giant recently revealed a major cost-cutting drive, with thousands of roles to be axed as it comes under pressure to boost profits.

BP has also been selling off parts of the business to raise cash and said it now expects proceeds from divestment in 2025 to be more than four billion US dollars (£3.05 billion) and completed or announced asset sale agreements to reach around five billion US dollars (£3.81 billion) this year.

Mr Auchincloss said: “There is much more to do but we are moving at pace, and demonstrating that BP can and will do better for our investors.”

BP group said it would buy back another 750 million US dollars (£572 million) before reporting full-year figures, in line with the buybacks seen in the third quarter.

The business earlier this year unveiled a new growth strategy focused on extracting more oil and gas, pivoting away from a focus on green energy and heavily reducing spending on renewables.

It has come under pressure from shareholders to boost profits and cut costs, with activist investor Elliott Management recently taking a 5% stake in the group.

In August, it revealed it expects 6,200 jobs to go – about 15% of its office-based workforce – which is higher than the 4,700 cuts announced at the start of the year, with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) to help drive cost efficiencies.

BP also said at the time it had already slashed 3,200 contractor roles since January, with another 1,200 to go by the end of 2025.

The third-quarter figures come after fellow FTSE 100 oil giant Shell also saw profits fall amid lower oil prices, although Shell likewise saw profits come in higher than expected, amid a boost from higher sales volumes and trading margins.

Benchmark Brent crude average prices fell 13% year-on-year in the third quarter.

BP’s half-year results in August showed profits tumbled by nearly a third as weaker oil prices weighed on earnings, although it posted a better-than-expected performance for the second quarter.

On Tuesday, it said its customers and products division was helped by higher refining margins, with better-than-expected profit before interest and tax of 1.72 billion US dollars (£1.31 billion), up from 381 million US dollars (£290 million) last year.