BP misses forecasts as annual earnings slide for second consecutive year

BP said full-year capital expenditure was now expected at the higher end of its previous guidance at $16-17bn

BP's oil and gas production totalled 2.19 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the quarter, down 5.5 per cent from the year before (Getty)

BP reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates after higher oil prices failed to fully compensate for lower income from refining.

Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes totaled $400m, falling short of the $567.7m average estimate of analysts.

Unlike peers Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, which said cash flow now covered spending and dividends at current oil prices, BP said it wouldn’t achieve that until the end of the year, and only if Brent crude rises to about $60 a barrel.

A pattern has emerged across the industry that’s reinforced by BP’s results. Profits from oil and gas production are rising with higher crude prices, but are being offset by weaker-than-expected earnings from refining and trading.

“Almost all of the majors have missed earnings estimates and the big theme for the quarter has been weaker refining,” said Brendan Warn, a London-based analyst at BMO Capital Markets. “Maybe people were expecting things to turn around too soon.”

BP’s adjusted downstream profit before interest and tax, which includes refining and trading, fell 28 per cent in the quarter to $877m, the company said in a statement. The partial shutdown of its US Whiting refinery, BP’s largest, in the period hurt sales, while the expense of the turnaround drove up costs.

Net debt continues to climb, with the leverage ratio rising to 26.8 per cent at the end of 2016 from 21.6 per cent a year earlier, the statement shows. BP targets a net debt ratio of 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Oil and gas production totaled 2.19 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the quarter, down 5.5 per cent from a year earlier.

The company’s shares have fallen 6.5 per cent in London this year, compared with a 3.1 per cent decline for Shell’s B shares and a 3.3 per cent drop at Total. BP rose 44 per cent last year, the first annual gain in three years.

Bloomberg