The UK-based company posted a Q4 net profit of $115 million, missing the $285.5 million consensus. The underlying replacement cost loss for the full year came in at $5.7 billion. During the same period in fiscal 2019, it posted a net profit of $10 billion. The market was expecting a full-year net loss of $4.8 billion.
According to BP, the weaker-than-expected figures were caused by lower oil and gas prices, impacted by the restrictions meant to curb COVID-19. The same is expected to happen in the future.
“We have had the worst recession, I guess, in the world since the ’40s. It was a brutal year, I think, for the oil business — negative prices, fuel demand down 14%, aviation down 50%, and of course we had adjustments to our planning prices which resulted in impairments and write-offs,” stated CEO of BP, Bernard Looney.
Following the news, BP stock price lost more than 3%. Year-to-date, its stock price added around 6%. In 2020, the company’s stock price fell 46%.
Read how other companies have performed in the past quarter here!
Source: cnbc.com