Embattled BP beats on earnings as it touts selling oil, not cups of coffee, poking fun at its former CEO

It’s the second quarter since BP (No. 33 in the Fortune Global 500) initiated its reset and the first time the Big Oil giant has promising results to tout. With a nearly 30% beat on its second-quarter net profits of $1.63 billion announced Aug. 5, BP’s net income spiked from a year-on-year loss of $129 million, which compares to BP’s full-year net profit for 2024 of just $381 million.

Kathleen Brooks, research director for the XTB brokerage house, called the results a “significant milestone for the company as it returns to profit.”

“BP is much less interested in telling the public about the number of coffees it sells each year and is now focused on how much oil it can extract,” Brooks said in a note, poking at former CEO Bernard Looney.

Looney, who resigned in 2023 amid issues of undisclosed personal relations with employees, would routinely tout that BP service stations sell more than 150 million cups of coffee a year. “We may be much better known on the high street for selling fuel, but we also sell a lot of coffee,” he said in 2020.

Current CEO Murray Auchincloss made no such references to bean-sourced beverages.

“We remain relentless in our aim to deliver improvements right across BP,” Auchincloss said in the earnings call. “BP can and will do better for its investors.”

With new chairman Albert Manifold stepping into the role Oct. 1, Auchincloss said he is “initiating a further cost review” of its business portfolio with the incoming chair.

BP, also under pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, reiterated its goal to divest $20 billion in assets by 2027 and sharply cut overall costs and debt, while actually ramping up spending on oil and gas exploration and production.

Most notably, a strategic review and potential sale of its $8 billion Castrol lubricants business is ongoing, and Manifold will be able to weigh in.

BP’s stock rose nearly 2.5% in early trading Tuesday. And talk has dissipated for now of Shell potentially buying rival BP.

Best foot forward

RBC Capital analyst Biraj Borkhataria said in a note that BP is back on its “front foot” but is still in the “early stages of its turnaround journey” as its focuses on improving debt reduction and free cash flow. He expects to see more asset sales and stronger capex shifts toward oil and gas production.

BP said it has achieved $1.7 billion in structural cost reductions, in line to meet or exceed the goal of $4 billion to $5 billion by the end of 2027. BP hiked its quarterly dividend 4% to 8.32 cents and will repurchase $750 million in the third quarter.

In the world of crude oil, BP said it made its biggest discovery this century offshore of Brazil in the Bumerangue block, although the announcement was short on details.

BP called the find its 10^th discovery of the year, including other oil and gas exploration successes in Brazil, Trinidad, Egypt, Libya, Namibia, Angola, and the U.S. Gulf.

In the past, BP embraced the energy transition, pledging to invest more in renewables while shrinking its oil and gas portfolio and eventually achieving “net zero.” But those goals came ahead of the pandemic and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sending oil and gas prices higher and boosting the emphasis on global energy security. BP continued to lag behind its peers and is now playing catch up.

For instance, BP is now selling its U.S. onshore wind portfolio and divesting 50% stakes from its global solar and offshore wind businesses.