BP has seen its profits more than double in the first three months of the year as the soaring cost of crude, caused by the Iran war, boosted its oil trading business.
The FTSE 100 firm said its preferred profit measure – underlying replacement cost profit – surged by over 130 per cent to a better-than-expected US$3.2 billion (£2.4 billion) in the first quarter.
That was up from US$1.38 billion (£1.02 billion) a year earlier and US$1.54 billion (£1.13 billion) in the previous three months.
Most analysts had expected first quarter profits of US$2.67 billion (£1.97 billion).
The group’s customers and products division – including its oil trading unit – reported profits of $2.5 billion (£1.84 billion), compared with $1.4 billion (£1.03 billion) in the previous quarter and just $103 million (£76.2 million) a year ago.
This is a breaking story. More follows…
