BP p.l.c. (BP) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending June 30, 2023

August 1, 2023 4:00 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Craig Marshall

Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to BP's Second Quarter 2023 Results Presentation. I'm here today with Bernard Looney, Chief Executive Officer; and Murray Auchincloss, Chief Financial Officer.

Before we begin today, let me draw your attention to our cautionary statement. During today's presentation, we will make forward-looking statements that refer to our estimates, plans and expectations. Actual results and outcomes could differ materially due to the factors we note on this slide and in our U.K. and SEC filings. Please refer to our annual report, stock exchange announcement and SEC filings for more detail. These documents are available on our website.

I'll now hand over to Bernard.

Bernard Looney

Well, good morning. Thanks, Craig, and good morning to everyone. Thanks for joining us, either physically in the room here or online. Earlier this morning, we reported our second quarter 2023 results, and I hope that you see continued evidence of our strategy in action, a strategy that is focused on delivering long-term shareholder value. We've now been in action for over three years. We set our direction in 2020, we completed our restructuring in 2021, and since then, we have been focused on delivery and on execution.

Let me highlight a few things, if that's okay, before I turn it over to Murray. First, we delivered resilient operational and financial performance in the second quarter with good cash delivery. During a period where significant turnaround activity and weaker margins impacted our refining business, the underlying business continued to perform well. And looking forward, the outlook for the second half of the year, which I'm sure we'll talk about, remains strong. And I will talk a little bit more in a few moments about that.

Second, we are progressing our strategy at pace. We are investing in today's energy system and, not or, something that you will hear repeatedly from us because it defines our strategy, and, not or strategy. And not or, we are investing with discipline across our five transition growth engines to help accelerate the energy transition. This continued growth underpins our confidence in delivering our 2025 targets.

Third, we are growing distributions for our shareholders. Today, we have announced a 10% increase in the quarterly dividend per ordinary share and a further $1.5 billion share buyback. These decisions are consistent with our continued focus on disciplined delivery against our unchanged financial frame, and they reflect the confidence in our performance, the confidence in the outlook for cash flow and the progress that we have made in reducing our share count. And Murray will obviously return to this later.