BP’s latest set of bumper quarterly results will do nothing to extinguish further calls for the oil major to pay even greater levels of windfall tax.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould said: “BP did its best to signal how much it is already paying out in extra levies already, but this is unlikely to lead to any great deal of pity when the company is generating sufficient extra cash flow to sanction further share buybacks approaching $2 billion.
“It says something that this total, and the accompanying forward guidance around dividends and buybacks, was disappointing to shareholders and a likely reason behind a fall in the share price despite reporting better-than-expected profit. It also hints at the longer-term challenge facing BP as the company looks to balance investing in the energy transition while still doling out plenty of cash to keep investors happy.
“The issue for those who see the headline numbers and think the UK’s cost of energy problem could be solved at a stroke is that the lion’s share of its profit and cash flow is being generated outside the UK and therefore beyond the auspices of HMRC.”
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