BP reports weakest profits since 2020 amid drop in cost of crude

BP reported its weakest quarterly profits in almost four years yesterday, citing the slump in global oil prices and falling margins in its refinery business.

- Jillian Ambrose

The company revealed underlying profits of almost $2.3bn (£1.8bn) for the July to September period, its lowest quarterly result since the last three months of 2020, when travel restrictions during the Covid pandemic caused oil prices to crash.

BP's share price fell by nearly 5% to 379p, in part due to a slump in global oil prices to just over $71 a barrel from $75 a barrel on Friday.

While the profit figure was down about 28% year on year, it beat the forecasts of City analysts, who had predicted the company would make just over $2bn in underlying profits for the quarter.

The BP chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, revealed the better-than-expected earnings alongside plans to maintain the pace of its quarterly share buy-backs at $1.75bn.