March 15, 2025, Trowbridge, Somerset, England.
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British oil giant blood pressure on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter profit in line with expectations and suspended stock buybacks in an effort to strengthen its balance sheet as the oil price decline hurts.
The London-listed energy company reported underlying replacement cost profit of $1.54 billion for the final three months of 2025, which is used as a proxy for net profit. This matched analyst expectations of $1.54 billion, according to consensus compiled by LSEG.
BP’s full-year net income for 2025 was $7.49 billion, lower than analysts’ expectations of $7.58 billion. This is down from nearly $9 billion in 2024.
BP announced that its board of directors has decided to suspend share buybacks and allocate all surplus funds “to accelerate the strengthening” of its balance sheet. The company’s previous share buyback was $750 million, announced at the same time as its third-quarter results in November.
For the fourth quarter, the company declared a dividend of 8.320 cents per common share.
“2025 was a year of strong underlying financial results, strong operational performance and meaningful strategic progress,” Carol Howle, BP’s interim CEO, said in a statement.
“While we have made progress on our four key goals of increasing cash flow and earnings, reducing costs and strengthening our balance sheet, we recognize there is more work to do and the urgency to achieve it is clear,” she added.
Woodside Energy boss Meg O’Neill is set to take over the reins at BP on April 1, following Murray Auchincloss’ decision to step down late last year.
BP’s stock price fell nearly 4% in early afternoon trading, paring some of its early trading losses.
Other earnings highlights include:
BP’s net debt in the fourth quarter was $22.18 billion, down from about $23 billion a year earlier. Operating cash flow for the fourth quarter was $7.6 billion, up from $7.43 billion in the same period last year. BP set its 2026 capital spending budget at $13 billion to $13.5 billion, reflecting the lower end of its guidance range.
The results were announced at a difficult time for Europe’s oil and gas sector.
Oil prices posted their biggest annual loss since the coronavirus pandemic last year, due in part to concerns about oversupply, and pressure is gradually mounting on major oil companies to address shareholder returns.
BP’s industry rivals Equinor and shell Both companies reported lower quarterly profits last week, citing lower oil prices, among other things.
Year-to-date stock prices for BP, Equinor, and Shell
Equinor announced it would cut its share buybacks to $1.5 billion this year from $5 billion last year, while also reducing investments in renewable energy and low-emission energy projects.
Meanwhile, Shell kept its share buybacks unchanged at $3.5 billion, marking the 17th consecutive quarter in which Shell has spent more than $3 billion on share buybacks.
Maurizio Carulli, global energy analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said BP’s decision to suspend share buybacks should be seen as a prudent move to prioritize strengthening its balance sheet in an environment of low commodity prices.
“Under former CEO Murray Auchincloss’s ‘strategic reset’ in April last year, share buybacks had already been reduced from $1.75 billion to $750 million per quarter. The decision to halt them completely signals a more prudent attitude and clear focus on financial resilience,” Carulli said.
“While this move was not a complete surprise to the market, especially after similar actions by other oil majors, some short-term investors may have been disappointed, which may help explain the weak share price seen today. However, prioritizing balance sheet strength in an environment of soft commodity prices is a prudent move.”
