4th Feb 2020 07:58
(Alliance News) - BP on Tuesday reported a fall in fourth quarter and annual earnings amid weak oil and gas prices, as its long-standing chief executive, Bob Dudley, delivered his final results at the oil major.
However, BP's preferred profit metrics beat analyst expectations and the company also raised its annual dividend.
In the three months to December 31, underlying replacement cost profit was down 26% year-on-year to USD2.57 billion from USD3.48 billion. For the full-year, it declined 21% to USD9.99 billion from USD12.72 billion.
According to company compiled consensus from 20 analysts, 2019 RC profit was predicted to come in at USD9.50 billion and for the fourth quarter alone at USD2.10 billion.
Revenue was down 6.0% to USD71.11 billion from USD75.68 billion in the fourth quarter, with 2019 revenue declining 6.8% to USD278.40 billion from USD298.76 billion.
The company upped its fourth quarter dividend by 2.4% year-on-year to 10.5 cents.
Turning to production, output for the fourth quarter rose 2.7% to 2.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and for the full-year, climbed 3.8% to 2.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
"We expect full-year 2020 underlying production to be lower than 2019 due to declines in lower margin gas basins. We expect reported production to be lower due to the above factor and the impact of the ongoing divestment programme," BP said.
New CEO Bernard Looney will assume the role on Tuesday, replacing Dudley, who has been at the helm since 2010. Looney was promoted to group CEO having been head of the Upstream unit.
Dudley said: "BP is performing well, with safe and reliable operations, continued strategic progress and strong cash delivery. This all supports our commitment to growing distributions to shareholders over the long term and the dividend rise we announced today."
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called up 0.8% at 7,388.30
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Hang Seng: up 1.2% at 26,671.07
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.5% at 23,084.59
DJIA: closed up 143.78 points, 0.5%, at 28,399.81
S&P 500: closed up 0.7% at 3,248.92
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GBP: down at USD1.2964 (USD1.3008)
EUR: flat at USD1.1051 (USD1.1059)
Gold: down at USD1,574.20 per ounce (USD1,576.67)
Oil (Brent): soft at USD54.75 a barrel (USD54.90)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's Key Economic Events still to come
US President Donald Trump delivers State of the Union address.
0930 GMT UK CIPS/Markit construction purchasing managers' index
1100 GMT Ireland monthly unemployment
1100 CET EU producer price index
1000 EST US manufacturers' shipments, inventories & orders
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The death toll in mainland China from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 425, with the total number of cases now standing at 20,438, officials said. The new figures come after the country opened a new hospital built in 10 days, infused cash into tumbling financial markets and further restricted people's movement in hopes of containing the rapidly spreading virus and its escalating impact. The latest figures are up from 361 deaths and 17,205 confirmed cases on Monday. The figures were announced as Japanese officials were deciding whether to quarantine more than 3,000 people on a cruise ship that carried a passenger who tested positive for the virus. Other countries are continuing evacuations and restricting the entry of Chinese or people who have recently travelled in the country. Chinese President Xi Jinping, presiding over a special meeting of the country's top Communist Party body for the second time since the crisis started, said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic".
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Sinn Fein has surged into first place in the Irish General Election race, an opinion poll of voters suggested. The party could earn the support of a quarter of all those likely to cast their ballots, according to an Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI survey. That would represent an upset of epic proportions in a country traditionally dominated by politicians espousing views to the right of Sinn Fein. The findings would suggest major change is on the cards during this weekend's vote as Ireland grapples with problems surrounding housing and healthcare. Fine Gael, the party which has led Ireland's coalition governments for almost decade, was predicted to finish third with the backing of a fifth of the electorate, the Irish Times poll said. Meanwhile, part of the election count could be delayed after the death of a candidate. The woman has been named in local reports as independent Tipperary hopeful Marese Skehan, found dead at her home in the county south west of Dublin. Leaving one constituency's seats unfilled could complicate efforts to form a coalition government after what is expected to be a fragmented election result.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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MORGAN STANLEY STARTS JUST EAT TAKEAWAY WITH 'OVERWEIGHT'
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RBC CUTS AB FOODS TO 'SECTOR PERFORM' ('OUTPERFORM') - TARGET 2850 PENCE
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BARCLAYS CUTS SENIOR TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL WEIGHT') - TARGET 146 (180) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Plumbing and heating products supplier Ferguson said it was looking at options over the demerger of its UK operations and announced a big share buyback. Ferguson said it is considering two options for its listing structure going forward: an additional listing in the US or a primary listing there. Last year, Ferguson - which makes a bulk of its revenue in the US - announced plans to demerge its UK business Wolseley from its Ferguson operations in the US. While Wolseley will be London-listed, the company's board believes the US is the "natural long-term listing location" for Ferguson, it said. In addition, Ferguson commenced a USD500 million share buyback to take place over next 12 months, citing its confidence in the business and strong cash generation.
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Irish support services firm DCC said its trading performance and, more specifically, operating profit for the third quarter to December 31 was in line with management's expectations. The company said annual results for the year to March 31, will be "another year of development and good growth operating profit", in line with current market consensus expectations.
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Property developer Land Securities said Mark Allan will start as new chief executive on May 1, having been appointed late last year. Current CEO Robert Noel will step down from the role and as a director on March 31. Martin Greenslade will be acting CEO in addition to his role as chief financial officer during April, the company added.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Wizz Air reported January passenger figures, with numbers up 23% on a year before to 3.2 million, with a load factor of 90.2%, up from 88.1%. Meanwhile, JP Morgan said 12.5 million Wizz Air shares were successfully sold by Indigo Partners at 4,015 pence each, raising GBP500 million. Indigo continues to hold 2.5 million shares. The sale plan had been announced late Monday.
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COMPANIES - OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Ryanair Holdings said January traffic rose by 5% to 10.8 million passengers. The airline's load factor for January came in at 92%. Ryanair said it operated over 62,000 scheduled flights in January. On Monday, Ryanair had said it swung to a third-quarter operating profit of EUR91.3 million, compared to a loss of EUR68.0 million for the same period a year before.
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Moody's Investor's Service raised its credit outlook for food manufacturer Premier Foods to stable from negative, while affirming its B2 corporate family rating. The outlook change for the UK company reflects the credit agency's view of a reduced risk of a no-deal scenario for Brexit, even though the risk still exists, since the transition period could expire without any agreement on a future relationship between the UK and EU. Premier Foods, as a food manufacturer, remains exposed to the uncertainty related to UK consumer spending in the context of an economic slowdown or the event of a no-deal Brexit.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Sony raised its full-year forecast and reported a third-quarter revenue climb but saw profits fall following the non-repeat of a remeasurement gain in 2018 from the consolidation of EMI Music Publishing results. Revenue in the three months to December 31 came in at JPY2.463 trillion, about USD22.62 billion, up 2.6% from JPY2.401 trillion. Pretax profit was 8.9% lower at JPY310.3 billion from JPY340.5 billion. On an adjusted basis however, profit rose 31% to JPY293.1 billion. In the third quarter of 2018, Sony reported a JPY116.9 billion gain from the consolidation of EMI results. In May 2018, Sony agreed to acquire Mubadala Investment Co's approximately 60% equity interest in EMI. As a result of the transaction, Sony indirectly owns about 90% of the equity interest in EMI Music Publishing, and it became a consolidated subsidiary of Sony. The biggest contributor to Sony's revenue gain in the recent third quarter was its Financial Services unit, where sales more than doubled to JPY407.2 billion from JPY101.4 billion.
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Tuesday's Shareholder Meetings
Numis Corp
Mi Pay Group (re liquidation)
PME African Infrastructure Opportunities (re AIM delisting)
Blackrock Frontiers Investment Trust
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]
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