BP ups its dividend on the back of profit results
BP has reported profit before tax in the third quarter of $5,172m (£3,211m), up from $4,116m in the second quarter, hiking its quarterly dividend by 5.6 per cent, to 9.5 cents a share. Shares spiked this morning on the news. (Release)
The oil giant saw underlying replacement cost profit for the period of $3.7bn, compared with $4.5bn for the same period last year.
In the first nine months of 2013, BP saw pretax profit of $29,022m, up from $14,831 for the same period last year. This includes a pretax charge of $280m for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The 2010 spill cost BP $39m in the third quarter 2013. It has now cost the company $42.5bn altogether. Including its impact, net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter was $6.3bn, and $15.7bn for the first nine months of the year.